


The Little Things

by Dangerous_Liaison



Category: Girl Meets World, lucaya
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 33,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8845396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dangerous_Liaison/pseuds/Dangerous_Liaison
Summary: Lucas, Zay, Riley, and Maya are all going to NYU and share an apartment together. Living with Maya, the mysterious, fiery girl that makes his life hell but also exciting, who he might also have a slight crush on has it's interesting moments. This is a compilation of the little things he starts to notice about the blonde menace.





	1. Musical Mistakes and Sticky Notes

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy!

The year is 2019 and Lucas and his friends are just settling into the new apartment they all share. Riley, Maya, Lucas, and Zay are all attending NYU, pooling their money together to get a fair sized place to live. Of course they miss Farkle, but he’s off to do great things at MIT. They still constantly text him, as well as Skype. He’s doing well; on his way to take over the world.

When they discovered that the four of them were all going to the same school it didn’t take long before it was decided to live together. Sure, they could’ve stayed at home but what’s the fun in that? With four incomes it wasn’t hard to find a place but it wasn’t like it was the Taj Mahal. Riley and Maya shared a room, as well as Lucas and Zay. And they were all perfectly fine with that.

It’s been a couple months into the school year and things were going great. Classes weren’t too difficult, they loved the campus, they were all making new friends, and they all got along, for the most part. Lucas knew it was going to be at least a little difficult living with Maya. For two obvious reasons: 1. She would tease him mercilessly and 2. Being in such a close proximity all the time will make him have to take more than a few cold showers.

He’s seen her unabashedly walk around the apartment in her bra and panties, claiming she was looking for a sweater she left in the living room. He had stopped eating his cereal, spoon frozen in air, when she had done this. Zay laughed and guided his hand to his mouth. He had never let him live that one down. 

He’s noticed a lot of new things about Maya that he had never known in the past seven years of knowing her. There were little things that he picked up like the fact that she left notes for people everywhere. If she used the last of the milk she would put a sticky note on the fridge. If it was raining she would put an umbrella in front of the door with a note that said “You’re welcome.” Sometimes, after she took a shower, or if Riley was currently in the shower, she would write in the condensation on the mirror. She would even leave notes on their bedroom door sometimes, saying things like, “Good luck on the test. ” or “If you don’t turn off your hillbilly music I’m gonna castrate you.” Those always made him smile.

Speaking of his music. He’s always known she didn’t like it. She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t like country music. But more than once, while he’s walking past the bathroom, he’s heard her singing in the shower. “For every stoplight I didn’t make. Every chance I did or I didn’t take.” or “I don’t want good and I don’t want good enough. I want can’t sleep, can’t breath without you, love.”  He would smile to himself. When she came out and sat at the kitchen table he would sing quietly while making pancakes. “I don’t want easy. I want crazy.” He turned around and put a short stack on her plate for good measure. She narrowed her eyes at him but ate anyway.

He would push the limit with her a little bit sometimes. I mean, come on, how could he not? He would turn up the speakers when his iPod played a particular twangy song. She would mildly threaten him but then let it go. But he found out there instances where he should leave things alone. “Little Toy Guns” by Carrie Underwood came on and he saw her stiffen from her place on the couch. She whipped around and stared at him very seriously from where he was doing his homework in the kitchen.

“Turn. It. Off.” He smiled a little.

“Or what?” She was up and in his face in a matter of seconds. She grabbed his collar.

“I said turn it off.” His eyes widened a little. He grabbed the little remote and pressed the “next” button. Some rock song came on and she released him. She let out a breath and gathered her things and retreated to her room. Lucas looked from her closed door to the iPod deck to the couch, and back again. What just happened? No more than five minutes later Riley came out of their room. She put her hands on the table in front of him and forced him to look her in the eye.

“What did you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maya slammed our door, looking pissed as all get out, then basically hid under her covers. I tried to talk to her but she kept saying she was fine even though I could hear her sniffling. What did you do?!” He made her cry??? He hadn’t meant to. He was just teasing her a little. Playing their game.

“I just played a country song, that’s all.” Riley look confused.

“Really? What song?” Lucas flipped through the songs before it started playing again. Immediately Riley’s face looked shocked.

“Are you insane? Turn it off!” Lucas fumbled with the remote before he turned the music off completely.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s a good song.” Riley looked at him like he was crazy.

“Have you even heard the words? It’s talking about a little girl hiding in a closet because her parents are fighting.” It finally dawned on him. Oh shit. “I know she’s told you that the only memories she has of her father is of him fighting with her mom but she never told you the extent of those memories. She’s repressed a lot of them and sometimes wakes up crying because she dreams about hiding in her room, listening to them scream at each other. She would crawl under her bed or into her closet, hoping her dad wouldn’t come in because she was scared of him. Now whenever she’s reminded those times she gets these flashbacks and gets so scared. Sometimes she even cries. Don’t feel bad that she didn’t tell you. It took her a long time to tell me. After about the third time she woke up crying at a sleepover I had had enough and she confided in me.” Lucas felt like complete shit. Sure, there was no way he really would have known but he still felt like the worst friend ever.

“Will she be okay?” he asked. Riley sighed

“Yeah, I’m sure she will. This one wasn’t that bad. She was more mad than anything. Just give her time.” Lucas lowered his head, feeling shame. He spotted his sticky notes.

“Here, give her a note for me.” He scribbled, ‘I’m so so so sorry, Maya. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ Riley smiled as she took it. She disappeared into their room for a total of 23 seconds before she returned and shook her head sadly.

“Sorry Lucas.” He sat and thought for a minute before getting up and looking in the fridge and smiling in victory. He scribbled on another note and handed it to Riley once more. ‘You can have my last piece of cheesecake from that bakery you love.’ This time Riley laughed and crossed her fingers as she left again. This time it took eight minutes before they both walked out. Maya sat across from him, eating her promised desert, not saying anything. But not saying anything also means not yelling so that’s a good sign. Riley gave him a thumbs up. They went back to normal after that.

He doesn’t know why but he keeps picking up on all the little things she does. She taught herself to peel an apple completely in one peel like on Sleepless in Seattle, she puts one shoe on then the other shoe then has to tie the first one first, you can always tell what her mood is based on her nail color (if it’s light like pink or purple she’s in a fun mood, if it’s dark like a deep red or black, run), every time she’s on a set of stairs she quietly counts them, she chews on her hair when she's nervous or stressed, and she won’t finish an episode of Friends if she can’t do the clapping in the song (seriously, if she misses it she’ll get up and walk away). These little things were cute and unique and they made Maya who she is.

These weren't particularly outstanding attributes. Nor were they annoying or off putting. Most people would just shrug these off if they noticed them at all. So why did Lucas?


	2. Painting Perfection

He also had the unfortunate circumstance of finding out Maya wakes up at ungodly hours to paint. One morning he just couldn't sleep and he could see just the faintest bit of light streaming through his blinds. So he decides to get out of bed. He wandered out into the living room when he heard something out on the fire escape. In his exhausted state Lucas grabbed his bat out of the closet. He crept up to the window and lunged out, with a sort of battle cry. 

"Jesus!" Maya jumped and sent her easel over the ledge, falling to the ground below. A couple seconds later the unmistakable sound of splintering wood could be heard. They both looked down then looked at each other. Maya glared at him. 

"What the hell, Huckleberry?" Lucas put his hands up in defense. 

"I'm so sorry, Maya. I thought you were a hobo or a robber or something." She raised a brow. 

"Gee, thanks for the confidence boost." 

"No, that's not what I meant. I just heard something out here. I wasn't looking...at...you." At this point he actually looks down. She's wrapped in a sheet and from what he can tell she's in just her underwear. He blushes deeply and turns around and stares at the sunrise. 

"What are you doing, anyway?" he asks, rubbing the back of his neck. Maya shuffles around. 

"Not that it's any of your business but I like to wake up early sometimes and paint the sunrise. And since nobody's awake I don't bother getting dressed." Lucas didn't respond or move or anything. Maya sighed. 

"I'm covered up, Ranger Rick. You can turn around." Lucas slowly turned back. He didn't want to look at her for fear of wandering eyes. So instead he decides to jog down the stairs. A minute later he emerges with the pieces of her painting. He handed it to her with an apologetic look. 

"I'm really sorry." She accepts the pieces with a small frown and sits back on her stool.

"It's fine. Hey, have you ever seen Coyote Ugly?” He gave her a weird look.

“Yeah… Where’s this going?” Maya laughed slightly.

“Ever since I first saw that movie I had loved the scene right after the two main characters had sex. Violet goes out on the terrace in only her sheet in the early morning hours, captivated by what had happened and by the early morning air and even the passionate dancer she sees across from her. This is where she gathers inspirations from; everyday things that most people overlook and that’s beautiful.” This whole time she didn’t look at him. She gazed dreamily down at the paintbrush in her hands. Lucas stared at her though.

“Leave it to you to take a movie about girls dancing on a bar, and even take the  _ sex scene _ and make something beautiful out of it. See? You’re just like you described. You took something that most overlook and made it beautiful. Wow, no wonder you’re good at art.” It was Maya’s turn to blush deeply.

“Thanks.” It was silent for a moment. Lucas decided to break it.

“Hey, since no one else is gonna be awake for a while, do you wanna go get some breakfast?” Maya’s eyes lit up.

“As long as you’re paying. I mean, you were the one that asked a lady out and southern hospitality states that-”

“Yes, I’m paying. Now go put on some clothes.” Maya smiled and ran inside. Lucas went over to the broken eazel. It was a half finished picture of the sun coming up over the tall buildings of New York. In the lower left corner Maya had named it “Things Will Be Better in the Morning.” He smiled to himself.

“Come on, Huckleberry! Waffles!” he heard from inside.

 

The group was walking through Central Park later that afternoon. Well, they weren’t so much a group as two pairs. Zay had slowed his pace so he could be next to Riley and they started up a conversation that had Riley giggling. So that left Maya and Lucas to walk together. They didn’t say much. It wasn’t awkward, just silent. Maya kept glancing up at him every few seconds until Lucas had to ask.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” He rubbed his hands all over his face to get what he assumed was mustard from the hot dogs they had earlier off of him.

“No,” Maya said innocently and then pointedly looked away, leaving Lucas confused. He turned back to the others to see if they had noticed. Nope. Not at all. They were sharing cotton candy and laughing still. Okay then. They all came to rest under a big tree. Maya kept checking her phone for the time. What was up with her?

After about twenty minutes she stood up, grabbed her messenger bag, and offered her hand to him. He looked at it questioningly.

“What are we doing?” Maya smiled.

“Come with me.” He hesitantly took her hand and she pulled him along. She stopped in the middle of a group of trees where the sunlight was streaming in. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him down into a sitting position. Then she walked over to the nearest tree and sat down in the shade.

“What’s going on?” Maya pulled out a giant sketchpad and some paint. Without looking up she spoke.

“Do you know what you look like in normal sunlight?” His brow furrowed.

“I never really thought about it.”

“Amazing. You look amazing. It hits your hair just right and lights up your eyes. Now, imagine what you would look like as the sun is setting. Which just so happens to be right...now.” She looked up at him and her eyes widened while her mouth opened a little. His hair looked like it could be on fire. His tan looked even darker than normal. And his eyes. The deep orange/gold light made his blue eyes shine.

Lucas smirked a little. “Are you okay?” Maya didn’t even try to jab back at him.

“Yeah,” she said distractedly. “You just look like you’ve bathed in sunshine.” Lucas looked taken aback for a moment before he cleared his throat and recovered.

“So, do you want me to pose or something?”

“No, just act natural.” Lucas laughed at that.

“Easier said than done. That’s like when the doctor tells you to breathe normally when they’re listening to your heart and you try your best but now you’re self aware.” She smiled at that as she took out a bottle of water and threw it to him then took out another for when she needed to clean her brush.

“That’s actually a good analogy,” she chuckled. “But seriously, just act like you normally would around me.”

“So I can call you Shortstack?”

“If you want paint in your eyes.” Lucas laughed but then fell silent. Maya could sense his awkwardness of being scrutinized. “How about you just talk to me? Tell me stories about good ol’ Texas. You always seem happiest when you’re talking about that.” Lucas smirked again.

“Okay, well there was this one time when-” He noticed that Maya was just staring at her paint with a slightly worried expression. “Is something wrong?”

“No it’s just...I’m afraid I won’t have the right colors, or talent even, to capture this right.” That broke his heart.

“You’ll do great. I know it’s hard to do my face justice but if anyone can do it it’s you.” Maya laughed out loud.

“Okay, Hopalong, whatever you say.”

Lucas recalled tales of him and his friends growing up in Texas and how they would get into all sorts of shenanigans. He’s told this story many times so he didn’t even have to think while he told it. He looked over at Maya and noticed just how concentrated she was. She looked completely serious save for her tongue that was poking out of the side of her mouth. There were times where she looked almost aggressive, like she was trying to paint a hole into her sketchpad. And other times she looked so meticulous in her actions, her brush looking feather light as it brushed the page. Of course, Lucas couldn’t see the picture, just her brush strokes. 

The sun had almost completely set when she said she was finally finished. Lucas stood up and stretched, walking over to her.

“Let’s see it.” Maya jumped back.

“Oh hell no. This didn’t do it justice. I’m probably just gonna throw it away or something.” Lucas was shocked.

“Wh-”

“Let’s go get Riles and Zay. It’s getting dark” She sprinted away, leaving Lucas looking bewildered.

 

That night Lucas was sitting on his bed, doing homework with his headphones in. A pillow came flying through the air and smacked him in the head. He ripped the earbuds out and whipped around to look at Zay.

“What the hell?” Zay couldn’t stop laughing.

“Sorry, dude. But I called your name like three times. Anyway, you’ve got a mysterious present.” He held up a manilla envelope. “It just slid underneath the door. Did you kill someone? Hire a hitman and these are the photos of the finished job? Are you a spy? Is this full of nudes from a secret admirer-” Lucas snatched the envelope out of his hand.

“No. To any of that. I don’t know what this is.” He turned it over in his hands before opening it. Two pieces of paper slipped out, one little, one big. He read the little one: “Huckleberry, I thought you deserved to see this since you sat with me for so long. Even though you do owe me a painting from this morning. Sorry it’s not that good.” He carefully unfolded the painting.

He gasped quietly. The normally beautiful trees from Central Park where painted in greys and blacks, making them look fairly dull. The other various things in the background were painted to look like they were all fading away. In the center, it looked like Heaven itself was sending down a beacon of light onto him. He very well looked like he was bathing in sunlight like she said. His eyes had the greatest detail. They almost had the effect of sunlight shining on the ocean, with its mixture of blue, green, and yellow. His eyes sparkled. He looked down into the corner and saw the title: Golden Skin, Diamond Eyes.

“Wow, did Maya paint this?” Zay said over his shoulder.

“Yeah, but she said it wasn’t good so she was gonna throw it away.”

“Damn, if that’s bad I don’t want to know what one of my paintings is categorized as.”

“It’s not bad. It’s beautiful.”


	3. Insecurities

It was rare, but Lucas discovered that he and Maya had some things in common. He found a particular attribute they share while they were all at the beach. It was spring break and they all decided to drive down to the beach, stereotypical college style. They met their friends from school there so they could all hang out.

They arrived last, seeing all of their friends playing volleyball, splashing in the ocean, and dancing to the music they were playing. Lucas could have sworn he was in some cheesy teen movie. Riley just threw her stuff down so she could join the fun. Zay chuckled and ran after her. Which left Lucas and Maya alone. Again. They set up their umbrellas and towels. He expected her to run out there with everyone else but she just sat on her towel and fidgeted awkwardly. Lucas sat next to her.

“Aren’t you gonna go play?” he asked jokingly. She glared at him but it only lasted a second. She stared at their friends, all in their bathing suits. She looked down at her baggy t-shirt and shorts and sighed. She laid down with her hands behind her head.

“No, I’m good right here. What about you? Go frolic in the sand with the beach bunnies or whatever the hell they’re called.”  Lucas laid back as well.

“No, I’m good right here,” he mimicked, smiling to himself. She looked over at him then shrugged.

 

About an hour later the sun had risen fully and it was nearing 90 degrees. Maya groaned and kept tossing and turning.

“Ugh, it’s hot as balls!”

“Yeah, this sucks.” Maya quirked an eyebrow.

“Just take off your shirt, stupid. That’s one of the few perks of being a guy.” Lucas looked nervous, playing with the hem of his baseball shirt. He tried to change the subject.

“W-Well, you have your swimsuit on underneath your clothes. Why don’t you take yours off?” Maya looked slightly worried and a little offended.

“I just...can’t. I thought I would be able to, you know, since it’s just our friends, but I can’t.” She pulled her knees to her chest. Lucas grew concerned, forgetting his nervousness.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t wear a swimsuit. Not out in public.” Lucas’ eyes widened.

“Maya, you are not fat.” Maya’s head shot up and she smacked his arm.

“I never said I was, asshole! There are more insecurities out there than just being too fat or too skinny.” Lucas narrowed his eyes a little.

“I know that. So what’s the matter?” Maya toyed with the fringe on the end of her jean shorts.

“Not that it’s really your business but I happen to have stretchmarks on my upper thighs and stomach. I don’t know WHY, I never gained or lost a significant amount of weight. And I sure as hell didn’t have a growth spurt!” She flopped her legs down and gestured at them, glaring at what her shorts were covering. Lucas’ face softened.

“That’s not so bad. It’s actually a lot more common than you think.” She gave him a bored expression.

“Thanks for the after school special, Sundance. Now, what’s yours?”

“What’s my what?”

“Your insecurity. Don’t think I didn’t notice how defensive I got when I told you to take your shirt off. And now that I mention it, I’ve never seen you with your shirt off. Not that that’s uncommon behavior or anything but seriously, what’s up? ” Lucas avoided her eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh cut the bullshit. I told you mine, it’s only fair.” Lucas pondered it for a moment. He took a deep breath.

“I have some bad scars on my back and chest.” Maya’s jaw dropped.

“...From what?”

“I got them in Texas.” She reached out and put her hand on his arm.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” She gently wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. Lucas looked confused.

“It’s...okay? They aren’t that bad. I was stupid.” Maya abruptly pulled back and looked him in the eye.

“No you weren’t. And you’re not. No one deserves that, you didn’t ask for it.” He looked at her like she was crazy.

“What are you talking about?”

“You used to talk about how your dad was a pretty aggressive man but I didn’t know how far it went. Lucas, I’m so sorry.” Lucas’ eyes widened.

“No! Maya,” he laughed a little, “that’s not how I got them. I got them because I was a stupid kid who thought he was invincible. I would climb trees and hit every branch on the way down. I would try to catch stray cats or other animals that would use me as a scratching post. ...I would pick fights I know I shouldn’t have. But none of them were that bad!” he clarified when he saw her face. “None of these things put me in the hospital or anything but they left some pretty nasty scars. And I’ve grown weary of them the more I get. I don’t like how they look. They’re ugly and they make me look like some kind of bad guy.” Maya looked thoughtful.

“So not only do you not like the way they look, but they also remind you of a bad time in your life.” Lucas nodded. She searched his eyes for a little bit before patting his leg and getting up.

“Okay, c’mon.” He blinked up at her.

“What?” He grabbed her hand and stood up as well. Maya smiled, took a deep breath, and tugged her shorts off. She put her hands on the hem of her shirt and looked up at him.

“On the count of three we’re doing this.” She looked mostly confident but it was the little hint of fear in her eyes that made him determined. She shouldn’t be so worried about this. And neither should he. He put his hand on his shirt.

“One,” he said, looking into her eyes.

“Two,” she said with a big smile.

“Three,” they said in unison, lifting their shirts off. Maya stood there in her purple two piece and Lucas in his swim trunks. Maya grabbed her left arm with her right hand, awkwardly, but made herself drop it. They stared at each other for a moment.

“You look perfect,” Lucas said quietly. Maya smiled sheepishly.

“You too.”

“Shall we do this?” Lucas offered his arm to her and she laughed.

“Yes, cowboy, we shall.” She took his arm and they walked over to their friends who were throwing a frisbee around. Lucas looked over at Maya and he could see a shattered self esteem under all of her confidence. That’s why he was so proud of her right now. She was doing this for him, and he was doing this for her. Not only do they both have big insecurities in common, but they would also put everything aside to help those they care about. And that made him care about her even more.


	4. Irrational Fears

One thing that he noticed, to his surprise, was that Maya was terrified of thunderstorms. Absolutely terrified. Lucas, himself, loved rain. Everything about it: the sound, the smell, the feel of it. He found it very relaxing. So one afternoon as he sat on the fire escape he reveled in the dark clouds rolling in, reading the book he had with him. It was so peaceful, the calm before the storm. Everyone was gone for one reason or another. He vaguely remembers Zay telling him he was going to some frat party, to which Lucas called, “Use protection!” Zay had laughed and patted him on the shoulder as he walked past.

As the first round of thunder rumbled he heard a shriek coming from inside. It startled him so much that he nearly threw his book off the ledge. He ran inside, searching for whomever the sound belonged to. An even louder crack of thunder broke out and he heard whimpering coming from Riley and Maya’s room. He tentatively opened the door and looked around, not seeing anyone. He almost left when he saw a figure shifting on Maya’s bed under all the covers. Lucas smiled slightly. She had dragged out every blanket she owned and wrapped herself in them. His smiled faded when he heard the desperate little sounds she was making. Worry flooded his face as he made his way over to her bed.

“Maya?” He could see her stiffen. She cleared her throat.

“Yeah?” He could tell she was trying to seem nonchalant but he wasn’t gonna play along.

“What’s wrong?” He sat at the corner of her bed as she flipped the covers off of her head.

“Nothing. What’s up?” He gave her a tired expression. He could see that her eyes were puffy from crying.

“Come on, Maya, don’t give me that. Are you...are you afraid of thunderstorms?” Maya looked at him for a solid minute.

“It won’t do any good to say no, would it?” He shook his head. “So...the truth?”

“That would save time.” Maya sighed.

“Yeah, I’m a little scared.”

“Maya.”

“Fine, they fucking terrify me, happy? And before you ask, no, there’s tragic backstory as to why that is. I wasn’t in a bad storm that traumatized me, I didn’t lose a family member to one, I’m just scared.”

“Well that’s okay. Everyone has irrational fears.”

“Hey, this isn’t irrational. The sky is literally screaming and shooting electricity at us. And the clouds make it look like it’s Armageddon. Someone up there is pissed.” He laughed at how serious she looked. Then the room lit up from the lightning outside and Maya threw the blankets back over her head.

“So…” he could hear her muffled voice, “what’s your irrational fear?” It was silent for a moment as Lucas thought about it.

“Now, don’t hate me, but I would say oblivion.” Not even a second later Maya flipped the covers off yet again.

“Don’t make me kick your ass, Huckleberry. Seriously, a The Fault in Our Stars reference?” Lucas chuckled.

“Hey, you can’t yell at me when you’re the one who got the reference. You saw the movie.”

“‘Cuz Riley made me.”

“And you cried,” Lucas smirked.

“I’m gonna kill Riley.” Lucas waved his hand, dismissing her comment.

“Anyway, let me explain. Yes, it’s from the book, but it isn’t exactly like what he meant. It got me thinking: What if there isn’t anything after we die? No Heaven or Hell or Purgatory. No such thing as ghosts. Nothing. That makes death seem so much scarier. I could find at least a little comfort in the fact that I have a chance of being sent to Hell. But nothing? As humans, we don’t like the unknown, we fear it even. So if you really think about it, it’s not that irrational.” He shrugged. She looked at him with an unreadable expression.

“No, it’s pretty irrational. To people who are religious, anyway. But that is a really interesting thought. Interesting, but also fucking terrifying. Normally I would just dismiss it, like I do with most of the random shit you say but damn, that’s scary. Thanks, now I have two things to worry about: dying from this thunderstorm and then...nothing. Great.” But she still smiled. She scooted over and Lucas laid down next to her but on top of the covers.

“I can’t believe Riley told you I cried,” Maya said grumpily.

“I think it’s sweet that you got emotional. And she wasn’t trying to make fun of you. She said it admiringly.” He looked over to her and his smiled dropped yet again. Maya’s eyes were huge. She sat up quickly.

“Riley’s out there in this storm.” Lucas sat up as well.

“Yeah, so? She’ll be fine.” Maya shook her head vigorously.

“No, no this is bad.”

“She’s not afraid of storms too, is she? Where is she, anyway?”

“No, she’s not. She said she was going to the library but knowing her, she could’ve gotten distracted by a bunny and started following it. That, or a boy. She could’ve gotten lost and is out in this. What if there’s a tornado coming? Or a hurricane? Oh god.” Lucas grabbed her hands with his own.

“Though those first two things are very probable I don’t think we’re gonna get a tornado let alone a hurricane. It’s just your typical thunderstorm. And Riley is smart enough to get to shelter.” He smiled fondly at her. She looked at him, questioningly.

“What?”

“You completely dropped your fear for Riley. Granted, you just traded it for fear for  _ her  _ safety, but still. She couldn’t have a better best friend.” Maya’s eyes roamed around the room.

“Thanks for the compliment, Lucas, but it doesn’t help Riley in this situation.” She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand. “Oh no… No wonder she hasn’t called for help. My phone’s dead! She’s probably trying to reach me and I’m not answering! Oh god, she’s probably shivering under some tree, afraid for her life!” Lucas rolled his eyes lightheartedly as he took her hand and led her into the living room.

“What are you doing?”

“Would it make you feel better if I called her?” Maya looked down sheepishly.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, gimme a minute.” He found his phone on the coffee table and called Riley.” She picked up after just two rings.

_ “She’s freaking out, isn’t she?”  _ Lucas looked surprised. 

“Yeah, kinda. Wow, you guys are like psychic or something.”

_ “I would be there to comfort her but I’m gonna stay at the library ‘til it calms down a little. Just keep her distracted, put on a movie, if she let’s you near her at all.” _

“Oh yeah, I’ve been keeping her calm.” It was silent on the other end for a moment.

_ “Really? She let you see her upset? AND calm her down? Did you take pictures? I need proof.”  _ Lucas smiled.

“No I didn’t. Yes, she’s fine. And now I’ll let you talk to the girl tugging on my arm, urgently.” He handed the phone to Maya.

“Riley? Are you okay? You’re not outside are you?” Her voice trailed off as she walked back to her room. Lucas walked over to their entertainment center and skimmed the movies, popping one in then walking to the kitchen to make some popcorn.

When Maya walked back out to give Lucas his phone back she stopped. He was sitting on the couch with a giant bowl of popcorn, the TV showed the title screen of her favorite Disney movie.

“Peter Pan?” She looked so touched.

“Yeah, it’s your favorite, right?” She nodded as he handed her a cup of hot chocolate. “I thought this would be a cozy distraction from the weather. She sat down next to him as he started the movie.

“Thank you, Lucas,” she said quietly. He just smiled in response. She looked from his face to the screen to his face again. She threw one side of her blanket on him as well. From the corner of her eye she could see his surprised look on his face but didn’t acknowledge it. She just sang under her breath, “The second star to the right.” 

Once the movie finished Lucas looked down at Maya who was basically snuggled up next to him. She was asleep. He looked out the window to see that it was still raining but not as forcefully. He still didn’t want to wake her up in case she would still be scared. He carefully got up and gathered her into his arms, blanket and all. He quietly walked through the house, into her room and laid her down on her bed. She started to stir. Lucas brushed some hair off of her face.

“The second star to the right shines in the night for you,” he sang softly. “To tell you that the dreams you plan really can come true.” She finally settled down. He smiled. “And don’t think I didn’t hear you call me Lucas. Twice.” He saw a flash that didn’t come from lightning. He whipped around to see Riley and Zay. Riley was holding her phone up and they both had knowing smiles on their faces. He glanced back at Maya then ushered them out, closing the door behind them.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Zay gave me a ride and we just got home. Just in time to see this beautiful scene in front of us.” Riley smiled widely, wiggling her phone in front of him.

“It was nothing.”

“Come on, man.” Zay raised his eyebrows at him.

“You put on her favorite movie then carried her to bed, singing her back to sleep. Oh my god! There’s only two types of people that do that: Parents to their toddlers and boyfriends. So chop chop, make it happen. Make the stereotype true.” Lucas gave them both a look.

“I’m going to bed.” He walked past them, waving over his shoulder. The two laughed. Riley pulled up the picture.

“Should I show this to Maya or just post it?” Zay put his arm around her shoulders.

“I think either option will get you and Lucas killed.” Riley looked sad.

“Awe, no fun.”


	5. Nerds Have More Fun

Maya had convinced Lucas to help her with her math homework so he was currently sitting at her desk, waiting for her to return from the bathroom. He looked at the various pictures she had on the aforementioned desk. There were pictures of her as a child: cute, naturally. There were pictures of her with her mom and Shawn. There were a lot of pictures of her and Riley. And a couple of the five friends. He spotted a small picture on the wall next to her desk lamp that made him smile. It was of her and him at their high school graduation. They adorned their gowns and Maya wore his cap. She was on his back and they were laughing loudly, if the giant smiles on their faces were any indication. Lucas smiled fondly.

“Okay!” Lucas jumped at Maya’s voice. She plopped down on her bed. “Let’s do some math!” She was wearing sweatpants and an oversized sweater with her hair in a ponytail. But Lucas didn’t notice much of anything other than what was on her face.

“You wear glasses?” Maya looked up from the textbook she had just opened, peering up from under the glasses in question.

“Uh, yeah. Well, I wear contacts. You didn’t know that?” He shook his head. “Yeah, I wear them like 95% of the time. See? I’m not that bad at math,” she laughed, “But if I’m home for the night and still need to read I wear my glasses.” Lucas nodded.

“Well, they look nice on you. You almost look like a nerd.” Her head snapped up.

“Excuse me?” Lucas backtracked.

“Y-Yeah. Nerds are awesome. Plus they’re basically cool now even though that’s an oxymoron, a “cool nerd” but that’s what you look like. You’ve got the hot nerd look down.” Maya raised an eyebrow.

“Hot?” Lucas’ eyes widened.

“So! Let’s do some math!” Maya laughed lightly and they got to work.

 

“What. The. Hell? There are  _ imaginary _ numbers? You’re fucking with me.” Lucas chuckled.

“Nope. I wish I were. This is a real thing.” Maya blinked slowly a couple times before shoving her math book off of her lap.

“Okay, that’s enough for today. I need like a 24 hour break before my brain explodes.” She fell back on her bed and put a pillow over her face.

“It’s not that bad once you get the hang of it. And you’ll pick up on it in no time. You’re smart.”

“Yeah, I’m the hot nerd, remember?” came her muffled voice. Lucas blushed slightly. “What’s next, Huckleberry? Are you gonna turn into Leonard and start telling people our babies will be smart  _ and  _ beautiful?” Lucas blushed deeper.

“Hey, I’m not gonna lie to you. You are good looking, that much is obvious. And you are smart, you’re just struggling a little in math, which is totally understandable.” He paused. “AND you just confirmed that you are, indeed, a nerd.” Maya took the pillow off of her face and sat up.

“How do you figure, Ranger Rick?”

“Oh please. You watch the Big Bang Theory.”

“So? A lot of people do.” Lucas looked around the room. He gestured to what was hanging off of her bedpost.

“You have a Slytherin scarf.”

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

“You have a Starfleet sticker on your laptop.” Maya glanced at it without saying anything. “And you have a Pikachu plushie.”

“Hey! Don’t hate on Pikachu!” she said, grabbing the plushie and hugging it to her chest.

“I’m not hating. I’m just saying you shouldn’t hide your true self. Nerds are awesome. Embrace it.” Maya stared down at her feet, glancing up at him every few seconds.

“So what if I am? I happen to like sci-fi and fantasy genres. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“No, it’s not. I just don’t think you should feel like you have to hide that aspect of yourself. It’s not that big of a deal, so why hide it?” Maya sighed.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t match well with my bad ass personality.” Lucas laughed out loud at that.

“I think it works perfectly with your personality. Anything would work with your personality cuz you’re just amazing.” It was Maya’s turn to blush. 

“Thanks.” She looked down at her nails then up into his eyes. “Let’s do something besides math. Math has turned against me. I could almost forgive it when there were letters put into the mix. But this imaginary bullshit is going too far!” She shouted dramatically. Lucas rolled his eyes affectionately.

“What do you suggest?” 

So they proceeded to see just who was the alpha nerd. They quized each other on Harry Potter spells, star dates, Pokemon names, and Klingon terms. Maya was laughing hysterically at Lucas’ attempt to speak Klingon. Lucas lightly shoved her away from his position on her bed.

“Don’t make fun! I’m a little rusty!” But he couldn’t help her infectious laughter as he giggled between words.   

“No, just admit it, you’re not as much of a nerd master as you thought you were.” She continued to laugh and dodged another shove he aimed her way. Her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose.

“Oh we’ll see just who is the nerdiest when I quiz you on Star Wars, missy.” He used his pointer finger to push her glasses back up and Maya’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. She collected herself and cleared her throat.

“Not fair. Star Wars is stupid. Star Trek is where it’s at.”

“Now, while I do agree that Star Trek is pretty awesome, I have to say that it is blasphemy to speak so poorly about Star Wars. It is one of the nerdiest franchises and deserves respect.” Maya looked defiant. She crossed her arms and put her nose in the air.

“Nuh-uh. Not buying it. It’s mediocre and only 40-some year old men like it.”

“Okay, that’s it.” He reached over and took her glasses off. “You don’t deserve these. You can look the part when you learn to respect the fine art of nerdity.” 

“What the hell, Huckleberry? Give ‘em back!” She got up on her knees to reach for them but Lucas raised them above his head, out of her reach. Lucas’ laugh was cut short when he saw their position. He was leaning against the headboard and Maya was basically straddling him. Maya saw the shock on his face and smiled deviously. She dropped her hand.

“Well since I’m too short to get those back I’m gonna have to get closer so I can see you. I’m pretty much blind, you know.” She leaned in, resting her thighs on either side of his hips, chests pressing against each other. She moved in so their noses were almost touching.

“There you are.” Lucas visibly swallowed. He started lowering his arm. Maya laid down so she was sprawled completely on top of him, their foreheads touching, never breaking eye contact. He had never noticed how dark blue her eyes were. He always thought they were brighter than that. Unless… yep, her pupils were dilated. It gave them this dark, possessive look. Was she as turned on as he was.

“Maya…” His voice was raspy. Then the door opened.

“Hey, Maya, have you seen my- Woah! Sorry! I- Sorry!” Riley ran out and closed the door again. Lucas’ eyes were wide and glued on the spot where Riley had just been. But from the corner of his eye he could see that Maya hadn’t looked away from him for a second. Just when he was gonna turn back to her she snatched her glasses out of his hand and stood up, leaving him confused. He blinked repeatedly, wondering what just happened as Maya put her glasses back on.

“Thanks, Sundance. I’m gonna go see what Riley needed.” Then she left as well, leaving Lucas alone to ponder life and why it was so cruel.


	6. Thanksgiving Realizations

Lucas was surprised, to say the least, that Maya knew so much about him. Even more surprised to find out that he knew just as much about her. They discovered when they were all back at Riley’s parents’ apartment for Thanksgiving. The place was packed: Riley’s parents, Riley’s uncle Eric, Maya’s mom, Shawn, Riley herself, Auggie, Zay, Farkle back from school, Maya, and himself. They were all sitting together at the table, about to eat.

“Okay everybody, let’s say grace,” Topanga said, smiling as she grabbed her husband’s hand. Everyone bowed their heads. Lucas felt someone grab his hand from underneath the table. He peeked his eye open to see Maya holding his hand, eyes closed, with a content smile on his face. He didn’t hear any of the prayer that Mr. Matthews said as he stared at their intertwined hands. 

“Amen,” they all said. Maya dropped his hand and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. They all started filling their plates and eating. Once some of the dishes made their way down to them they would almost be empty. When the bowl of cranberries came Lucas saw that there was only a little bit left and it hadn’t been passed to Maya yet. He glanced at her and scooped the rest of it onto her plate before placing the bowl on the table. She looked at him, surprised.

“What was that, Huckleberry? You didn’t get any.” He just shook his head.

“It’s fine. I know they’re your favorite. I wanted to make sure you got some.” Maya looked so touched but didn’t say anything as they started eating. They listened to the grownups talk about stories from college. Then Topanga went to go look for something that they were talking about. Lucas really hadn’t been paying that much attention. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to his right to see Maya holding a spoon up to his face.

“Open.” He looked down to see she hadn’t eaten any of the cranberries and was currently offering him a spoonful.

“No, I told you it’s fine, Maya.” She gave him a “ _ bitch please _ ” look.

“And I know they also happen to be your favorite. So I say again: open up.”

“Thank you, but I’m good.”

“I’m not asking.” He saw the stern look on her face and gave in. He opened his mouth and she fed him. She looked satisfied and ate a spoonful, herself. He smiled down at her when she offered another to him. He didn’t fight it this time. They went back and forth a couple more times before it was gone. He stood up and took their dishes to the kitchen. When he returned he saw that Maya and Riley were having a little spat.

“Oh come on, Riley. Give it a rest.”

“What’s going on?” Maya sighed.

“Our darling dear little Riles is just giving me shit about feeding you. She’s calling us a married couple.” She turned back to her best friend. “Well, if that’s true, then you’re our daughter. God knows we’ve practically raised you and take care of you on a daily basis.”

“Oh, Peaches, don’t test me. I’ll start calling you Mommy and Daddy.” Maya laughed and was about to retort when Topanga walked back into the room.

“I found it!” She raised a board game above her head with a triumphant smile.

“Found what?” Lucas asked.

“Our old board game, The Couples Game. Over here, guys!” She started setting it up on the coffee table in the living room. They all walked over and sat wherever there was room.

“We used to play this all the time,” Shawn said.

“And we would’ve always won if it weren’t for Eric and Rachel.” Topanga playfully glared at Eric who just shrugged but looked smug all the same.

“So… Maya. You’re playing, right? I mean you are part of an old married couple.” Riley wiggled her eyebrows at her friend.

“...Sure. Only if you and Zay play too.” They looked over at the two boys who looked frightened.

“Deal.” They shook hands and sat on either side of the boys. “Wait, what about Farkle?” Maya asked.

“It’s fine. I’ll sit this one out.”

“Nonsense!” Eric exclaimed from the other side of the room. “I don’t have a partner, be mine.” Farkle looked a little uncomfortable.

“Okay, I guess.” He sat down next to his friend’s uncle.

“Mkay, since I’m sad and alone I guess I’ll read off the questions,” Auggie said, grabbing the cards. They all laughed.

“I’m sorry Ava’s out of town for the holiday, Auggie,” Riley said, ruffling his hair. He lightly smacked her hand away.

“It’s cool, let’s just move on. Okay, first question goes to mom and dad. What was dad’s dream job as a kid?” Cory scribbled on his whiteboard.

“That’s easy: Professional baseball player. He even had his picture on a box of Wheaties,” Topanga said with confidence. Cory smiled as he turned his board around. It said: ‘A famous enough baseball player that I’d be on the Wheaties box.’ They smiled and shared a kiss.

“That’s enough of that! Next question goes to Eric and Farkle. What is Farkle’s biggest aspiration at the moment?” Eric thought for a long time, staring at the side of Farkle’s head. Farkle coughed and started to fidget. Finally Eric wrote something down.

“I would say I still strive to take over the world, I’ll never let go of that dream, but I wouldn’t mind having a girlfriend. Maybe then I’ll have someone to play this game with,” he mumbled. 

“Oh really? You don’t think I’m a worthy partner?” Eric turned his board around. It read: ‘The little weirdo will definitely try to take over the world (and I would happily follow him) but he’s an 18 year old boy. He wants a girl.’ Farkle’s eyes widened and Eric smirked. “Yep, you’re welcome.” Everyone looked shocked and amused. They kept playing.

 

After a while tension was starting to rise. Topanga never liked losing. She and Cory were in second place. Zay and Riley were in third with Katy and Shawn not far behind. And, oddly enough, Maya and Lucas were in first place, tied with Eric and Farkle. They had been playing for over an hour so they were taking a little break before sudden death and the winner was announced.

“Wow, are you sure you guys aren’t actually married?” Zay joked. Lucas gave him a weird look.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know what he means.” Riley swatted his shoulder. “You knew her childhood cat’s name was Mr. Whiskers, her favorite song is Closer by Tegan and Sara, and that her biggest pet peeve is when people speak or write with improper grammar. I didn’t even know that! And you,” she grabbed Maya’s collar as she walked by, yanking her back, “You knew his favorite color was orange even though all he wears is blue and you knew it was because it reminded him of autumn. You knew his hidden talent was reciting the alphabet backwards AND that his first word was ‘mouse.’”

“Yeah, cuz his mom was always chasing them out...with a broom…” Zay and Riley looked at her with matching exasperated looks. “Hey, we get bored, we talk. That’s it.”

“And you guys know stuff about each other, too,” Lucas piped up.

“Not to that extent. That’s why we’re losing!” Riley fell back on the beanbag chair she had been sitting on. They all laughed.

“Okay, final round! This is for all the marbles!” Auggie dramatically pulled out a card. “For this round each of you will be writing something down. You’ll have 30 seconds after I read the card. Here we go: What is your partner’s biggest insecurity?” Maya and Lucas looked at each other with worried expressions. Lucas knew Maya’s was either her stretchmarks or how she thinks she’ll never be as good a person as Riley. But she would never say that. She would say something like how she’ll turn out like her dad, so he put that.

The timer went off. “Eric, what is your biggest insecurity?”

“Well cousin Auggie, it would be that my hair isn’t as long as the gorgeous mane it used to be.”

“Okay, Farkle, what did you write?” Farkle turned his board around with an embarrassed grimace. It read: ‘Being too loud.’

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Eric shouted.

“Calm down, Eric. Farkle, what would you say is your biggest insecurity?”

“That would be that I’m not that cool.”

“Eric? What did you put?” Eric gave Farkle a bored expression as he showed what he wrote: ‘Little Far-Far isn’t too cool. But that’s just fine with me.’ Farkle looked embarrassed.

“Sorry, Eric.”

“That’s fine, little buddy.” He hugged him. “You just need to get on my level.”

“So!” Auggie clapped his hands together. “Maya, Lucas, if you both get this right you win. Maya, what would you say is your biggest insecurity?”

“It’s pretty obvious, but whatever. It’s that I might be turning into my dad.” Riley cooed and rubbed her back, giving her a half smile to comfort her.

“Lucas, what did you put?” He turned over his board, which read: ‘Thinking she’s turning into her father even though she isn’t.’ Maya averted his gaze, blushing a little.

“So, Lucas, what would you say is  _ your  _ biggest insecurity?” He had thought about this. He’s pretty sure Maya’s gonna say his scars. But then again, she knew how private that was. Deep down, his truly biggest insecurity is that he’ll let everyone down one way or another. But he didn’t want to open that can of worms. So he went with the next big thing.

“Probably that I’m not getting my dad’s approval.”

“Maya? What did you write?” Everyone held their breath as Maya’s eyes brightened and she slowly revealed her answer: ‘Not having his pop’s approval even though he doesn’t need it.’ “Maya and Lucas win!” There were a few claps and cheers among the people in the room. But neither of them heard any of it as they stared into each other's’ eyes. 

 

That night, Lucas went to the kitchen to get something to drink. Just when he put his hand on the cupboard door he heard his name.

“Lucas?”

“Dear god!” He spun around with his hand on his chest. He looked over to the couch where Maya sat, stifling her laughter behind her hand.

“Sorry. Can’t sleep either?”

“Yeah, Auggie snores louder than you would think.” He brought over two glasses of milk and sat next to her, handing her a glass.

“Thanks. Damn, I wish I got your reaction on video. That’s what you get for trying to beat my head in with a bat and destroying my painting instead.” She sipped her milk through a wide smile. 

“How many times do I need to apologize for that? Anyway, why can’t you sleep?” Maya held her glass in her lap and traced the rim repeatedly.

“I don’t know. Just can’t.” They were silent for a minute. Listening to the wind outside and the faint snoring coming from various rooms. Then Maya spoke up again.

“It’s weird how much we know each other.”

“Yeah. But I guess any friend would know some of those random facts.”

“It’s not just that. I-I know you lied about your biggest insecurity.” Lucas looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean... I know that was gonna be the answer you were gonna give but it’s not really your biggest insecurity. Physically, it would be your scars. But otherwise, it’s that you think you let everyone down. Not just your dad.” Lucas stared at her.

“Woah. I can tell you one thing I didn’t know about you. I didn’t know you were a mind reader,” he joked. Maya shook her head.

“Not a mind reader, just intuitive.

“Well...I knew you lied, too.” She gave him a look.

“How do you know? That is my biggest insecurity. I don’t want to turn out like my dad.”

“Okay, either you’re lying right now or you don’t even know, yourself.” Maya let out an exasperated sigh.

“Well, please, enlighten me.” Lucas twiddled his thumbs, not looking at her.

“You think you’re not a good person. And that’s probably because you live in the shadow of an extremely good person. You fear you won’t be as good as Riley and that you don’t deserve her as a friend.” He chanced a look at her expression. She was frowning deeply at her lap. Lucas continued. “At that is all complete bullshit. You are an amazing person. Sure, Riley may be overly showy about her kindness and happiness and you may have some dark days but that doesn’t make you any less in worth. You show kindness and loyalty to everyone in your life. Don’t think that you’re a bad person, not for a second.” Maya rubbed at the tears forming in her eyes. She sucking her lips into her mouth to stop herself from crying.

“...Thanks, Huckleberry.” Lucas reached out and rubbed her knee.

“No problem, Shortstack.” Maya smiled at that. 

“And hey, you don’t let anyone down. Ever. I know a lot is expected of you in sports and grades and relationships but you don’t need to worry. You excel in everything without even trying so don’t sweat it. You really are Mr. Perfect. And I think you are even more so when you fail sometimes. Everyone fails, it’s just life knocking you off of your high horse for a little bit. I know how your ego gets.” She smirked. He stared into her eyes before taking both of their glasses and placing them on the table. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. She was shocked for a moment before she returned the hug.

“What’s this for?” she whispered.

“Just let it happen,” he mumbled back. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his. He pulled back slightly after a few seconds and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.” Then he gave a short peck to her temple. Maya chose not to acknowledge it but a faint color rose to her cheeks.

“It’s funny,” she said as she curled her legs up onto the couch, “We know way too much about each other and we have way too much in common.”

“Yeah, you would never think that, just looking at us.”

“Yeah, but think about it. We both have a negative image of our fathers and we both fear we won’t be what others call ‘good people’ or live up to others’ expectations. It’s kinda spooky.” Lucas thought about it.

“You’re right. That is weird. We shouldn’t spend so much time together.” Maya looked a little hurt. “I’m serious. You’re rubbing off on me. Before I know it, I’ll actually start going ‘Ha-hurr!’ I wanna move out.” Maya smiled and hit him in the head with one of the throw pillows.

“You’d be lost without me.” Lucas laughed and held her wrist before she could hit him again. He pulled her closer to him.

“Yeah, I would.” He cocked his head and smiled down at her. Maya blushed yet again and stood up, pulling Lucas up as well.

“Come on, Sundance, let’s try to get at least a couple hours.” She pulled him along with her as she walked toward the hallway. As they stood between their respective doors.

“Thanks again, Lucas,” Maya said, seriously.

“Hey, we helped each other. Like we always do.” Neither made a move to leave.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“You know, now that you mention it, I’m kind of wide awake,” Lucas smiled.

“Me too.”

“Even so, you should go to bed!” they heard come from Auggie’s room. It was Zay.

“Seriously, Lucas, You’ll see her in a few hours!” Farkle chimed in from the same room. Maya and Lucas looked at each other, embarrassed but laughing.

“I guess this is where we part,” Lucas said, admiringly.

“Guess so.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“You too.”

“Good night.”

“Lucas, if you steal my cuddle partner I’ll hunt you down!” came Riley’s voice. “I’ve been lying here, cuddle-less, for about 20 minutes now and I can say I’ve been patient. Now give her back!” Maya laughed out loud.

“G’night, Huckleberry.” She turned to open the door but quickly turned back, getting on her tiptoes, and pecked him on the cheek. She then disappeared behind the door. Lucas stood there, staring at the closed door. Then the door behind him opened and two sets of arms pulled him in.


	7. Scary Turn of Events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've never been in this situation before so some of the events or terminology may be a bit off but I tried my best.

“Maya!” He just barely caught her in time before she hit the ground. He turned her over in his arms and saw her gesturing wildly at her throat, making choking noises. Her face was turning bright red and she couldn’t speak. What was going on?

 

*Flashback to that morning*

 

Lucas and Zay were in the living room playing Mario Kart when the girls walked in, faces flushed from being out in the cold. Lucas chanced a half glance before focusing on his game again.

“Hey, guys. How was shopping?” The two dropped all of their bags on the floor and sunk into the couch behind the boys sitting on the floor.

“Fun.”

“Exhausting,” they said at the same time. Riley shoved Maya a little.

“Oh, come on, you had a great time. We got so many clothes!”

“Yeah, but you fail to recall that we got in line at ten o'clock last night. And it is currently,” she checked her phone, “9:27 am. I’m dead. You’ve killed me. But at least now I have a cute sweater for you to bury me in.”

“I told you guys Black Friday wasn’t worth it. People have died participating in it,” Lucas said over his shoulder. Maya gestured toward him.

“See? Listen to the cowboy. I can’t feel my feet or my arms from carrying all of those bags. I’m gonna be ripped.”

“Oh stop being such a drama queen. You got a lot of cool presents for people. That should make it all worth it. The look on their faces on Christmas will make up for the pain.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t help me now, does it?” Riley laughed, searching through her bags.

“Yes!” Lucas exclaimed as his section of the screen read, “1st.” Zay threw down his controller.

“That’s the fourth game! You’re cheating.” Lucas snickered.

“Oh no, my dear friend, you just suck.” Zay hmph’d.

“Zay, if you want a break from that game, you could help me. I got Auggie a video game for Christmas and I wanted to check it out and make sure it isn’t too violent before I gave it to him.” She took the case out of one of the bags and handed it to him.

“Oh yeah, sure. I have that console in our room. Let’s play!” They both got up and left the room. Lucas looked over at Maya who was stretched out on the couch, rubbing at her aching feet.

“Hey, you wanna try your luck against the master?” He wiggled the other controller in front of her. She scoffed.

“Sure, ‘master’, let’s go with that. I could easily kick your ass.” Lucas laughed.

“Ha! That’s cute, Hart. But I have a pretty impressive track record.” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Just beating Zay at the game doesn’t make you good.”

“Well, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is.” He offered her the controller again. Maya thought about it for a minute, then got up and sat next to him.

“Fine. But if I win, you have to rub my feet.” Lucas grimaced a little.

“How ‘bout the loser cooks the winner dinner?” 

“Oh it’s on.” They shook hands and started the game.

 

About an hour later all that could be heard in the living room was Lucas screaming “NO!” followed by Maya’s maniacal laughter. She rolled around on the floor, wiping away a tear as she laughed.

“How…? How?” was all Lucas could say.

“I told you, just cuz you beat Zay doesn’t mean you’re the master. It was too easy knocking you down a few pegs. You would’ve thought you would know not to get a big head around me.” Lucas turned off the TV, not wanting to look at his failure. 

“I guess a bet’s a bet.” Maya sat back up.

“Damn straight. So what feast will you be cooking me this evening?” She batted her lashes at him. Lucas laughed a little.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to go to the store.”

“Well you can count me out. I’ve done enough shopping for the year. Anyway, I hope you cook better than you play video games, Heehaw.”

“You know what?” Lucas said as he grabbed his keys, “I’m now on a mission to prove to you that I don’t suck at everything. I’m gonna cook you a meal that blows your mind.” He pantomimed his mind exploding and Maya laughed.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

 

During most of the afternoon Maya was exiled to her room so she couldn’t see what Lucas was cooking. Whatever it was, it smelled amazing. Riley came in to tell her she and Zay were going to a movie.

“So you can have privacy for your date,” she joked.

“It’s not a date, Riles. He just lost a bet. Come to think of it, that’s the only way I could get a date.” Riley looked at her seriously.

“Hey, stop that. You know that’s not true. Plus, I know for a fact that Lucas would totally take you out on a date for many other reasons than just because he lost a bet.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Seriously,” she sat next to Maya on her bed, “He’s also really serious about this one. Now, I’m not allowed to tell you what he’s making, I will say that he went all over hell for this meal. He has stuff from the farmer’s market, Chinatown, and that cute bakery down the street.”

“Cuz he’s trying to prove a point. He doesn’t care about me.” Maya didn’t believe that but she was kind of in a mood now. Riley stood up.

“Now I know you know that’s not true, missy. Try to enjoy the evening.” She kissed the top of her head. “Bye!” She closed the door behind her and she heard Lucas bid them goodbye. About twenty minutes later there was a light knock on her door.

“Yeah?” It opened and Lucas’ smiling face greeted her.

“Your feast is ready, milady.” She fought the smile that spread across her face at his ridiculousness but it crept through.

“About time.” She got up and walked toward the kitchen after Lucas bowed slightly and gestured to the kitchen saying, “After you.” Maya thought this was all too corny before she saw what he had done. The lights were dimmed and there was a tablecloth and even a candle on the table. There were two wine glasses on either side and there was soft jazz music playing. Her eyes widened considerably.

“Oh...my-”

“I know, right?” Lucas said softly. He pulled out her chair for her. “You know me. When I have a point to make, I spare no detail.” He brought two dishes over to the table with lids on them, then grabbed a bottle and poured her a glass. She eyed him.

“Don’t worry, it’s apple cider.” She chuckled as he filled his glass. He then lifted the lids to reveal a beautifully crafted dish of some kind of meat in a cheese sauce, rice, and vegetables. He sat across from her and tried to gauge her reaction. She just shook her head and looked up at him with a surprised smile.

“Wow, Huckleberry, this is all amazing. You didn’t have to do this. If I had lost I would have made you spaghetti.” Lucas just smiled softly.

“Well I needed to prove to you that I’m not a total loser. Plus you deserve a little shmoozing sometimes.” She looked down a little sheepishly. She raised her glass.

“To the benefits of not sucking at Mario Kart.”

“Ouch, you wound me.” He playfully grabbed his chest but lifted his glass as well.

“To shockingly knowing how to cook.” Maya smiled, looking deeply in his eyes.

“To really caring friends.”

“To beautiful company.” Maya broke the gaze and clinked glasses. As they started eating Lucas smiled.

“Make sure to save room. I went back to that bakery you love and got cupcakes. Actually, I should check to make sure Zay or Riley didn’t sneak in and snag any of them.” He got up and walked over to the fridge. Maya kept clearing her throat when she felt it starting to tickle. Soon, it felt hard to breathe. Her fork clanked to the floor. Lucas closed the fridge.

“Maya? Are you okay?” She braced her hand on the table, wheezing, and started to waver.

“Maya!” He just barely caught her in time before she hit the ground. He turned her over in his arms and saw her gesturing wildly at her throat, making choking noises. Her face was turning bright red and she couldn’t speak. What was going on?

“Oh my god, Maya! What’s wrong? Are you choking?” She shook her head vigorously.

“Epi…” Lucas’ eyes widened.

“You have an Epipen? Where?” Maya used her hands to look like she was typing.

“Your computer?” She nodded then made to look like she was pulling out a drawer.

“Got it! I’ll be right back. Don’t worry!” He carefully placed her head on the ground and dashed to her room. He pulled each drawer out so forcefully that they came out completely. He upended each one and sifted through the contents. He finally found it and ran back into the kitchen. He placed her head back in his lap and positioned the pen over her thigh.

“Sorry if this hurts.” He shakily injected it, then held her to him, lightly stroking her hair. “It’s going to be okay, Maya. Please be okay.” Her swelling went down a little and her breathing wasn’t as forced.

“Oh thank god.” He scooped her up into his arms and ran out the door. He knew he wasn’t going to catch a cab that easily and he couldn’t take the subway. So he ran down the street, ignoring the looks he was getting. He ran six blocks before he found the hospital. He rushed inside.

“Help! She’s having an allergic reaction!” A few nurses came to their side and he sat her down in the wheelchair one of them had.

“What stimulated the reaction?” one of them asked him.

“I-I don’t know. We were eating dinner and she started wheezing and collapsed. I used her Epipen on her and came straight here.” Two of the nurses busied themselves with getting Maya to a back room to help her. The third nurse put her hand on his shoulder, comfortingly.

“You did the right thing, young man. We’ll keep you updated on her condition.” Then she retreated back to where they had taken Maya. Lucas just stood there, shocked. He’d done this. It was his fault they were in the hospital right now. He couldn’t will himself to sit down so he opted for pacing back and forth. He texted both Riley and Zay but seeing as they were in the theatre their phones were probably off.

An eternity later the nurse from earlier tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around.

“Is she okay? Is she gonna be okay? Can I see her?” She held up a hand to silence him.

“She’s going to be fine. She’s recovering now. We want to keep her here for a few hours in case her symptoms grow worse. You did exactly what you should have. Have you considered becoming a doctor?” Lucas smiled a little.

“A vet, actually.” She smiled as well.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do great. You can come back to see her now if you want.” He nodded enthusiastically and followed her. When he saw Maya he gasped a little. She was hooked up to machines with an IV in her arm and tubes in her nose. Her eyes fluttered open when she heard him. He went to her side and grabbed her hand.

“Oh god, Maya.”

“Duck.” He looked at her, then to the nurse, wondering if she was delirious.

“W-What?”

“Duck. Of all the things you could have served me it had to be duck. I sure know how to pick ‘em.” She smirked at him. The nurse laughed and walked out of the room.

“I am so so sorry, Maya. I didn’t know. Oh god, what have I done?” Maya’s fingers interlaced with his.

“Of course you didn’t know. Sometimes I forget. I don’t usually worry about it because few places I go serve it. I don’t even carry my Epipen around with me. It’s not your fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself. You couldn’t have known. And hey, it tasted good for the second before I couldn’t breathe anymore.” She smiled. Lucas laughed through the tears forming in his eyes. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. Then his phone rang loudly.

“Oh! One sec…” He was about to turn it off when he saw Riley’s name. “Oh boy. Hey Riley…”

_ “What’s going on!? Is she okay!? The movie just ended and I saw your text. Oh god, please tell me she’s okay!” _

“She’s doing well. She’s gonna be okay. It was an allergic reaction but she’s fine now.” Maya signaled to him. He placed the phone to his chest.

“Yeah?”

“Ask her to bring the little brown bag I got when we went shopping.” He looked at her funny but complied. He raised the phone to his ear again.

“Uh, hey Riles? Maya wants you to bring the little brown bag she got when you guys were shopping, if you could? I don’t know why, she just requested it.”

_ “Sure, I can do that. But then I’m busting in there dramatically.” _

“You wouldn’t be Riley if you didn’t.” He hung up and sat next to Maya again.

No less than fifteen minutes later Riley bursted through the door, Zay right behind her, breathing heavily.

“Damn girl, you’re fast.”

“Of course! My friend’s in the hospital!” She ran to the other side of Maya and threw her arms around her, not minding the tubes and wires around her. Maya smiled and hugged back.

“I’m okay, Riles. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“I’m never getting rid of you,” she cried into her hair. 

For the next couple hours Maya consoled Riley and reassured everyone that she was okay. Zay lightened the mood by cracking jokes every now and then. Lucas kind of backed off so Riley could fuss over her best friend but didn’t take his eye off Maya. It was 1 am when Riley had fallen asleep next to Maya. Zay got up.

“I’m gonna go get us all some coffee.” He pointed over to Maya. “Don’t go blowing up like a balloon while I’m gone, young lady. You’ve had enough fun for one night.” She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Zay patted Lucas on the shoulder.

“And you’ve had enough excitement for one night so I’m getting you decaf.” He walked out, closing the door quietly. Lucas kept standing in the corner, watching Maya worriedly.

“You can stop looking like some creepy vampire in the corner and come over here, you know.” Maya patted the spot next to her. He walked over and sat on the edge of the hospital bed. She picked up the brown bag Riley had brought and put it in his lap. He looked at her questioningly.

“Open it, dummy.” He carefully and precisely moved the tissue paper around and took out a shirt that had the Superman logo on it but there was an L where the S should have been. His jaw dropped a little when he looked over at her.

“I thought you deserved your Christmas present a little early.” Lucas put it back in the bag.

“I don’t deserve this ever. I almost killed you, you understand that right?” He tried handing her the bag but she stopped him by putting her small hand on his wrist.

“You always deserve to be reminded about how amazing you are. You are constantly showing kindness, especially to me. Going all out to make me a lovely dinner, even though it did inevitably end disastrously. And then rushing me to the hospital like my personal Superman. You’re an absolute great guy. You’re a hero.” She took the shirt out again and held it up to him. “You’re my hero.” His eyes watered again. He leaned in to hug her but did so carefully and slowly.

“You know I’m not gonna break. Hug me like a man,” she joked. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He tucked his face into her neck.

“I was so afraid I was going to lose you.” She was a little shocked at that.

“I know, Huckle-Hero. But I’m gonna be around to kick your ass at video games and give you ridiculous nicknames for a long time.”

“Good.”

 


	8. Sheriff and Bo Peep

It was the week before Halloween and the four friends were sitting around, thinking about what they were going to do for the holiday. 

“My buddy, Jeremy, is throwing a party and it’s supposed to be the best this year,” Zay suggested.”

“Really? A frat party? That’s not really my thing,” Riley said uncomfortably. Maya patted her leg.

“It’ll be fine, Riles. They aren’t my thing either but we’re in college. We need to experience these things. Let’s just go for a little while and then we’ll leave early.” 

“...Okay. But what are our costumes gonna be? I haven’t planned anything cuz I thought we were just gonna be at home since we’re too old for trick-or-treating.”

“Not true. Never too old,” Maya said seriously. They laughed.

“We didn’t plan anything either. It’s usually just a last minute thing. Like a vampire or a pirate.” Maya glared at Lucas.

“That is the most blasphemous thing I’ve ever heard. There is always a reason to dress up and Halloween is like the Holy Grail of costumes. You don’t take that shit lightly.”

“Whatever we decide, it shouldn’t be too revealing. I don’t wanna spend the entire night beating off drunk frat guys with a stick. Maybe I should just make it known that I’m taken even though I’m not.” The lightbulb went off in her head. “Maya! Go as my lesbian lover!” Maya laughed and shook her head.

“Sorry, Riles. I did that for you last year. I wanna try something else this year.” Lucas seemed to be in deep thought before he raised his hand slightly.

“What if we do couples costumes? So people will assume you’re both taken but you won’t have to make it obvious.” They thought about it and nodded.

“Sure, Huckleberry. But the question is: Which lucky man gets to date Riley for the night and which is saddled with me?” Lucas gave her a look.

“Now with an attitude like that, I feel like I should take it upon myself to treat you like a princess like a good fake boyfriend should. It was my idea after all.” He gave her a charming smile.

“Deal. Only I’m not dressing up as a princess. But let’s see how well you know me, boyfriend. I’ll put faith in you and let you choose the outfits. Don’t screw it up.”

“Ooh,” he rubbed his hands together, “I like a challenge!” Zay looked at Riley.

“As for us, you can pick the costumes because I’m terrible at it and I just know you have something adorable stewing in that Riley mind of yours.” Riley smiled brightly.

“Oh, you do know me. This is going to be great!” She ran off into her room to start planning.

 

************

 

A couple hours before the party the group met up at the apartment. Riley had her and Zay’s costumes in a bag and Lucas had his and Maya’s. They all separated to go change. Lucas was adjusting his cowboy hat in the mirror when he heard someone scream, “WHAT THE FUCK?” from the other room. He knew it had to be Maya and that made him laugh ‘till his stomach hurt. He looked over at Zay, who was pulling out his costume with a confused look and that made him laugh even harder. When they were finished he saw Zay wearing a green shirt and brown pants along with a fake small beard. He was holding a small plush Scooby-Doo.

“Oh my god, you’re Shaggy! That’s adorable, man.” Zay gave him a look.

“Yeah, cuz how many black Shaggy’s are out there?” Lucas pretended to think about it.

“Well, there’s the singer, Shaggy.” He smirked as Zay flipped him off. As they were walking out of the room Lucas sang, “She caught me on the counter, wasn’t me.” under his breath and Zay smacked his hat so it was covering his face. They went and sat on the couch to wait for the girls. Riley emerged a few minutes later. She was wearing an orange sweater/skirt combo with knee high socks and Mary Janes. She had on a short brown wig and glasses and she was carrying a magnifying glass.

“Jinkies! You guys look great! I hope you don’t hate me too much, Zay. I just had to.” Zay smiled at her.

“Don’t even worry about it, sugar. You look adorable. And just seeing how excited you are makes it all worth it.”

“Awe!” She sat next to him.

“Where’s Maya?” Lucas asked. 

“Oh…” Riley said seriously. “She saw the costume you picked out, alright. She spent about half the time we were in there, contemplating your murder. I, for one, think it looks so cute and would look good on her, but she’s stubborn as we all know.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Maya yelled from behind the door. Lucas smirked and stood up.

“Come on, Bo! Let’s see your cute face!”

“Fuck off, sheriff!”

“Do make me come in and wrassle you out of there. I’ve got my rope!”

“Kinky,” Zay muttered. Lucas glared at him.

“Okay, I’m coming in in 5...4...3...2…”

“Fine!” The door slowly opened and Maya stepped out. Zay couldn’t help but say, “Oh-ho-ho my god.” Riley put her hand over her mouth and squealed in delight. Lucas stood there, a little shocked. She wore a short, frilly pink and white dress that stopped at her knees with white lacy stockings and white heels. She had a small pink bonnet tied on her head and she even curled her hair. She walked right up to Lucas and got in his face.

“Lucas is gonna die!” Zay whisper/shouted and covered Riley’s eyes.

“I’m breaking up with you,” she deadpanned. Her frown deepened when Lucas smiled sweetly down at her.

“But you look so nice. And look,” he stretched his arms out and stepped back a little, “I’m Woody, the cowboy always to your rescue.” Maya raised an eyebrow.

“This is not even remotely fair. You always dress like that. You’re Huckleberry. Meanwhile, I look like a mixture between a Shirley Temple wannabe and some sick freak’s wet dream.”

“Awe don’t say that.” He wrapped an arm around her. “I think you look just the right amount of cute and sexy.” She turned her head to stare at him.

“Don’t let this outfit fool you. I will slap you.”

“Noted.” He laughed again.

“You look absolutely wonderful, Maya.” Riley jumped up and down. “I couldn’t have picked a better outfit.”

“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.” When they arrived at the party Maya definitely got some lingering looks. Whether they be from people who were weirded out or turned on, she really couldn’t tell. They all danced and talked and had some fun for a little while. But Maya kept seeing guys looking at her provocatively, calling over their buddies to watch, and even go so far as to smack her ass. She had had it.

“You know, the reason for these costumes was to not get hit on. And, sure, that’s not happening, but this is worse! What happened to you coming to my rescue?”  
“I thought you didn’t want that?”

“Shut up, cowboy. Now defend my honor. Or at least make it known that I’m yours for the night.” That definitely made Lucas shut up. He moved so he was standing behind her as they danced and glared at any guy who dared to look their way. They looked over to Riley and Zay and saw them doing some cheesy 70s dance. They all laughed and the mood was back to normal. After a while Maya was ready to go home. She talked to Riley but she was surprisingly having a good time. So she bid everyone goodbye and walked outside.

“Wait!” She turned to see Lucas following her. “You didn’t think I was gonna let you leave by yourself, did you?”  
“I’m a big girl, Lucas. I can walk home alone. Plus, I don’t want you to miss the party.” He didn’t turn back. On the contrary, he matched her pace.

“Okay 1) I know you are capable of walking home but you are in a kind of revealing outfit, I will admit that. And 2) I was done with that party anyway. It wasn’t that fun, just your standard frat party. Plus my 24 hour girlfriend was leaving so I wanted to go with her.” Maya blushed. Thank god it was dark.

“Please, you were just afraid you’d look stupid without the other half of your costume.”

“Okay, yeah, there’s that.” She smiled and rolled her eyes. When they got home Maya tore off the bonnet and threw it on the ground.

“Yes, I will admit I had fun. And the outfit wasn’t horrible. It was kinda cute to see you dress like the stereotypical cowboy.” She walked into her room.

“See? I know what I’m doing. You were right to put faith in me.” She emerged with the staff that had come with her costume. She had chosen to leave it at home.

“Except for that. Yeah, that was a little much, sorry.” Maya just smiled a little deviantly, twirling it in her hands. She got a little closer and in one swift movement, wrapped the curved end around his neck and pulled him closer. He almost went cross eyed looking at her, she was so close.

“Thanks for being there for me, sheriff.”

“A-Anytime.” She smiled and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, then let him go.

“It’s late, I think I’m gonna go to bed.” She turned away. “If you need me,” she changed her voice into a sultry one and quoted the movie, “I’m just a couple of blocks away…” Then she disappeared into her bedroom. Lucas collapsed onto the couch.

“If Zay were here he would definitely be making a ‘snake in my boot’ joke right about now.”


	9. They Call Me Mimi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **SPOILERS FOR THE MUSICAL, RENT**

“Come on, Maya!” Riley yelled as she pulled her best friend down the long hall. “Darcy already posted the cast list, we gotta see if we made it!”

“Well, Riles, I don’t know about you, but I highly doubt I’m on there at all. I had a cold on the day of my audition and I just wasn’t feelin’ it. Plus there was like fifty other girls auditioning for part of the chorus and the cast really isn’t that big.” Riley stopped walking and turned on her.

“Maya Penelope Hart.”

“Oh no, I’m in trouble.”

“Damn right, you are. What do I always say? NO ONE is allowed to belittle my friend and that goes double for my friend, herself. Now you did great that day. I was there, remember? And if by some disastrous anti-miracle you didn’t get a part I will personally go up to Darcy and slap her face. She may be a prestigious theatre director but you’re more important to me.” Maya smiled up at her.

“Hey, what’s up guys?” They both turned to see Lucas.

“We’re about to go see both of our names on the list of RENT cast members,” Riley said confidently.

“Oh wow, really? You guys tried out? For what parts?”

“I auditioned for Maureen and Maya wanted to be in the chorus.” She gestured to her friend who was looking at the ground.

“That’s all? Well then you’ve got this in the bag. You’re a great singer, Maya.”

“Thanks, Huck, but when you compare a moderately good singer to fifty other girls, that singer’s definitely gonna get outshined.” Before Lucas could give his counter argument Riley already had a hand over Maya’s mouth.

“Duh-duh-duh! No pessimism! This is a place of sunshine and smiles!” She lead them over to the group of people crowding around the paper on the door. Some walked away looks of disappointment and others expressed short bursts of joy. As they inched their way closer people started patting Maya on the shoulder as they walked by.

“Congrats, Maya!”

“Way to go, Hart!”

“So proud of you!” Maya looked utterly confused.

“What’s going on?” Riley nudged her way through the people in front of her and straight up tore the sheet off the door and walked back to them. Ignoring the shouts of protest, she scanned the paper. After a couple seconds her eyes shot up. Her jaw dropped as she grabbed Maya’s arm and shook her.

“Maya! Oh my god, MAYA!” Maya looked scared.

“What?!” Riley flipped the paper over so she could see. She traced her finger down until she saw her name: Mimi……………………….Maya Hart

She shook her head a little as she re-read her name over and over.

“There must be some mistake. I didn’t audition for a lead.”

“Who cares?! You did it!” Riley hugged her tightly. When she let go she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Lucas with his arms open.

“Can I get a hug from the star?” Maya could barely form words.

“I-I’m not a star.” But she hugged him anyway. He let her go but kept his hands on her shoulder.

“Hey, obviously you showed some true potential for them to consider you for a lead when all you wanted was the chorus. You went up against all of these other girls and they only had eyes for you. That’s gotta mean something.”

“I-I guess. Riley, what did you get.” Riley looked up from the paper and swiftly hid it behind her back.

“Oh, uh, it doesn’t matter.” Maya looked at her funny.

“Of course it matters. You were the one who was the most excited about this. What did you get?”

“Hmm? What did I get? Good question.” She kept the paper behind her back and began to hum and rock back and forth on her heels. Maya’s eyebrows furrowed. She lunged at her. Riley shrieked as the paper was snatched from her hands. Maya searched the paper for Riley’s name.

“Where’s your name?” She looked over at Riley who stared at her feet. “Riley, where’s your name?”

“I...didn’t get a part. But that’s okay! I’m so proud of you.” But as she was saying this Maya had already thrown the paper at someone else in line and started walking away.

“No. I’m not doing it.”

“Maya…”

“No, Riley. You wanted this so bad and I didn’t. Well, not as much anyway. It doesn’t feel right.”

“That doesn’t matter. I didn’t want a part that bad. It just seemed like fun. And of course I don’t know anything about this musical. I wanted to be the bisexual flirtatious sassy girl. Does that sound like me? No. I just saw that she was one of the lead girls so I went for it. But you...you love music. You love this musical! You played it off as if you didn’t really care but when I told you they were holding auditions for RENT your eyes lit up. So don’t feel bad. Be happy. Be excited that you got Mimi!” Maya searched her eyes.

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

“Okay. Yeah I guess I’m pretty damn pumped.” She smiled excitedly and Riley hugged her.

“So! Mimi. That sounds cute. You’re gonna be adorable.”

“Uh…”

“You do know that Mimi’s struggling with a drug addiction and basically works as a stripper/exotic dancer to pay her bills and goes through scary, damaging withdrawals, right? Plus she’s only 19.” Riley’s face dropped and her eyes were huge. Maya sighed.

“Thanks Lucas. It’s okay, Riles. She gets through it. She even has a love interest. She turns out fine.”

“If you say so.” They started walking outside. Maya turned to Lucas.

“So you know the musical?”

“Well, yeah. It’s amazing. One of the best.”

“Huh. Would you wanna rehearse with me?” Lucas looked uncomfortable.

“Oh, I don’t know… I’m not the best singer by a long shot.”

“It’s fine, Sundance.”

 

Later that week, Maya was in the living room with Zay, going through her songs.

_ “What’d you forget?” _

_ “Got a light?” _

_ “I know you, you’re-you’re shivering.”   _ Lucas was watching from the kitchen. Zay sounded awful and was not getting into it at all. And by the look on Maya’s face she wasn’t all too happy about that. After about a minute he decided he couldn’t stand it anymore. He walked over to Zay and took the lyric sheet out of his hands.

“Hey buddy, why don’t you take a break? I’ve got this.” He looked grateful.

“Thanks man.”

“You didn’t have to help, you know.” Maya looked a little annoyed as she watched him walk to the kitchen and take out a tub of ice cream.

“Yeah, but who am I to deny a damsel in distress?”

“Oh honey, the day I’m a damsel in distress is the day you start dancing like a white guy.” Zay laughed with a mouthful of ice cream and pointed his spoon at her in confirmation. Maya turned back to Lucas.

“Change your mind?”

“I just thought anything was better than listening to Zay sing.” 

“I resent that!”

“Go back to your ice cream! But yeah, you have a good point.” She rewound the song back to the beginning while Lucas put the lyric sheet down. Maya looked impressed. “No lyrics? Wow, you do know this.”

“Surprised?”

“A little.” She played the music and they completely immersed themselves into the song. When she said: “They say that I have the best ass below 14th Street. Is it true?” she saw his face actually turn red. She could also hear Zay snort from where he sat.They continued. They got to: “Cold hands. Yours too.” She was in his lap and he physically shied away a little. And when they got to the end and Maya had to seduce him to get her ‘stash’ back, Lucas’ whole body heated up. 

“They call me… They call me Mimi!” The song ended and they stood together for a few seconds. Maya blinked and stepped back to turn off the music.

“Wow, Hopalong, that was good. I’m gonna take a break for now but I’ve definitely found my rehearsal buddy.” She patted his shoulder and went to her room. Lucas collapsed onto the couch, staring at the ceiling. A minute later, Zay was in his line of sight, leaning over the couch.

“So...yeah. Is it too late to switch back?” he joked. “That was hot. Do you need anything? Water? A pillow for your lap?” Lucas glared at him as he laughed. 

 

A couple weeks later Lucas received a text from Maya, asking if he could meet her in the small dance studio on campus after classes. He obliged, knowing she had been stressing since opening night wasn’t very far off. He walked in but no one was there. He was about to leave when he heard someone shuffling around behind the room divider.

“Maya?”

“Oh, hey Lucas. Sorry, I’m just changing. We got our costumes today and I’ve only ever practiced in my normal clothes so I wanted to see what your thoughts were on my performance in these.”

“Okay, sure. I can do that.” He sat down on the floor and stared at himself in the mirrors that made up the entire room.

“Okay, here I come.” The music started playing and he immediately knew which song it was. He gulped. This was the song Mimi dances to at the Catscatch Club. Maya stepped out and Lucas swore his heart stopped for a moment. She was wearing a black lacy tube top and black leather short shorts. And to pull it all off she was also wearing high heeled boots. Lucas stared straight ahead as she started to sing and dance.

“Meow… Ha!” Oh dear lord, she just thrusted her hips at him. Why was he doing this? Why was he such a good friend?

“In the evening I’ve got to roam. Can’t stay in this city of neon and chrome!” She really was a terrific singer. It was easy to tell, seeing as he was currently staring at her feet and trying to focus on nothing else. 

“Please take me, out tonight!” Oh no.

“Don’t forsake me. Out tonight!” She locked eyes with him.

“I’ll let you make me, out tonight.” She started crawling toward him. “Tonight!” Closer. “Tonight!” She was definitely in his personal space now. “Tonight.” Without warning she grabbed his face and kissed him hard. Lucas completely froze. Maya moved her lips over his for a few seconds before pulling away. The music was over and all Lucas could hear was Maya’s heavy breathing and the sound of blood rushing in his ears. Maya ran a hand through her hair, cheeks flushed.

“Hey, uh, sorry,” she sat back on her heels, “That’s what my character does to Roger once the song’s over. I just went for it, you know?” Lucas cleared his throat.

“Yeah, um, yeah. I totally get it.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, you were supposed to push me off, then start singing about how young and naive and reckless I am, haha.”

“I don’t think that would’ve been possible,” he said quietly.

“What?” Lucas’ eyes widened again. “Uh, that was great! You did that performance perfectly.” He stood up. Maya narrowed her eyes at him playfully, standing up as well.

“So I played a convincing erotic dancer with a drug problem?” Lucas paused.

“Dancer, yes. Drug problem, no. But that’s completely okay with me.” Maya chuckled.

“I bet it was,” she said as she trailed her fingertips down his arm, watching him noticeably shiver. “I’m gonna go change. I’m meeting with Derek to run lines.” She disappeared behind the screen again. Lucas’ ears perked up at that.

“Derek McMaines? That pretentious douchebag actor? Why?”

“Uh, because he’s playing Roger? Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“Wh- Of course not!” he sputtered, “I just happen to know that he thinks he’s better than everyone else and always tries to sleep with his co-stars.”

“I’ll be fine, dad,” she joked, “I know he’s kind of an ass but I need to rehearse with him. Trust me, if I could only practise with you I would. And don’t worry, if he tries to make a move on me I’ll punch him in the dick so you won’t have to. Happy?”

“Very.”

“Good. Now can you come help me with my zipper?” Lucas swallowed hard.

“O-Okay.” He slowly stepped behind the screen to see Maya facing away from him with her short, form-fitting black dress completely unzipped, revealing her lace bra. With shaking hands Lucas slowly grasped the zipper and pulled it up, the sound the only thing he could hear. Those few seconds were extremely intimate, more so than when she had kissed him. He lightly brushed her hair to the side so he could work the clasp at the top.

“There you go,” he whispered in her ear. He swore he saw goosebumps form on her neck. She turned around and gave him a small smile.

“Thanks. Don’t wait up.” She gave him a teasing wink then patted him on the shoulder and left. Lucas let out a long breath and sat back down on the ground. After a moment he took out his phone and texted Zay: Dude, I could use that pillow now.

 

***********

 

It was opening night and Lucas was almost as nervous as Maya was. He knew how hard she had worked at this and he hoped it all ran smoothly. He, Riley, and Zay were all sitting front row to show their support. There was about ten minutes before curtain call so Lucas excused himself for a minute. He quickly snuck backstage and saw that the girl’s dressing room door was open. Not wanting to come off as a perv, he waited until someone walked out.

“Excuse me!” He stepped in front of a the girl who he assumed was playing Maureen. “Is Maya Hart in there? And if so, is everyone, um...decent?” The girl looked him up and down and smirked. 

“You must be Lucas. She talks about you all the time. Yeah, she’s the only one in there. And she’s decent. You’re decent too. She’s a lucky girl.” She waved as she walked off. Lucas stared after her with a weird expression before walking in. He spotted Maya on the small couch in the back, with her head between her knees. He quickly walked up to her.

“Maya? Are you okay?” Her head came up so fast that she had to hold onto the armrest.

“Oh, it’s just you.” Lucas frowned a little.

“Say it with a little more enthusiasm, geez,” he joked.

“Sorry, Huck, I’m using all my energy, keeping my heart in my chest and my lunch in my stomach.” Lucas rubbed her back a little.

“It’s completely natural to be nervous. But you have no reason to. You’re gonna do great. I’ve practically seen your entire performance and you did an excellent job. You’re definitely gonna pull focus away from anyone else on stage.” Maya smiled slightly, then she looked like she was gonna be sick.

“Thanks, but I don’t really want the extra attention right now.”

“Trust me, you’ll be perfect. And if you ever need some extra encouragement, we’re all right in front. Sing to me. Like you did during rehearsal.” Maya looked up at him with what he could only correlate with puppy dog eyes.

“Thank you.” She barely spoke above a whisper. She lunged at him and hugged him tightly. He wavered a little but caught himself and hugged her back. There was a light knock on the open door and they turned to see “Maureen” standing there with her arms crossed and a knowing smile on her face.

“Maya, you’ll see your boyfriend later. Curtain call’s in 60.” Maya avoided eye contact with Lucas at the mention of ‘boyfriend.’

“Okay. Wish me luck, Hopalong.” They stood up and walked out into the hall.

“You won’t need it, but good luck.” They waved and parted ways. Lucas got back to his seat just as the curtain went up. Riley leaned over to whisper to him.

“So, I really don’t know anything about this musical. It isn’t all about drug addiction, is it?” Her eyes were filled with worry.

“No, don’t worry.”

“Okay, good.” She looked pleased with the fact. Lucas didn’t have the heart to tell her the heartbreaking details of what they were about to witness. 

The beginning was amazingly executed. He mouth the words to the songs and he saw Riley dancing in her seat from the corner of his eye. Zay was incredibly amused by this and started dancing as well. When Maya was first seen on stage, Lucas and Zay had to cover Riley’s mouth because she just started clapping and cheering loudly. She sat back, looking a little bit like a kicked puppy, but behaved. Watching and hearing her sing ‘Seasons of Love’ was breathtaking. She looked so beautiful. After she left the stage it felt like there was something missing from the play.

_ “What’d you forget?” _

_ “Got a light?” _

Oh no. Not this song. He kind of came to know this as their song. And now she’s flirting and singing with that complete douche. He studied her movements. She seemed a little stiff, now whether that be because she was nervous or the fact that she had to pretend to like Asshole McBetter Than Everyone Else, he didn’t know. As she walked out at the end of the number he swore he saw her glance at him and smile.

As soon as the first chords of ‘Out Tonight’ starting playing, Lucas found himself sitting at the edge of his seat. Maya came out in her skimpy outfit and danced around the men at the fake club. She moved in a flirtatious manner, then moved to the edge of the stage, crawling on her stomach, and made a ‘come here’ motion to Lucas with her finger. He looked around to make sure she was indeed gesturing to him. He leaned forward and she caressed his face and ruffled his hair before getting up again and dancing. He glanced at Riley and Zay, who were staring at him in awe, then focused his attention back to the stage. When she kissed Derek he physically had to turn away. Then when he got up in her face, singing, “Who do you think you are?” he thought he was gonna jump up there and punch the guy. But he restrained himself.

Finally, his favorite song started: La Vie Boheme. It was so energetic and fun and always made him want to dance. And Maya seemed to be having the time of her life. Unfortunately, he forgot to warn Little Miss Precious Riley how provocative it was. She seemed a little startled at the cursing and shouting but that was nothing compared to when they mentioned dildos and masturbation and made sexual motions. She actually hid her face in Zay’s arm. Lucas chuckled to himself and danced a little to the song. He had really relaxed and was enjoying himself… It didn’t last long.

When it came to Mimi/Maya struggling with her addiction and internal battle, Lucas found it extremely hard to watch. He watched as Maya shivered and cried. He watched Derek McBastard yell at her and break her heart. Why did he let himself watch this? He was here to support Maya, but damn, she was too good an actress. He looked to his right to see Riley grasping Zay's hand tightly with one hand and holding a tissue to her face with the other. She was almost sobbing, she was crying so much. He patted he shoulder and gave her a slight smile, tears in his eyes as well. 

When Angel died he thought Riley was going to do so as well. She let out a fairly loud, ‘No!’ and had to cover her mouth with both hands. Yep, Lucas was gonna have to make it up to her for not warning her beforehand.

When it ended they all stood up and cheered as loud as they could. Riley grabbed both of their hands and ran out of the room. Once they were backstage she let go and sought out Maya. When she found her she gave her no warning and launched into a hug, nearly knocking her over in the process.

“Oof! Hi, Riles!” She smiled widely.

“Oh my god, I didn’t know all of that was gonna happen! I wanted to h-hug you so bad! I-I-I didn’t- I didn’t-” She started to get the hiccups and Maya shushed her, petting her hair to calm her down.

“It’s okay, Riley. I’m fine, everyone’s fine. It was all an act. I’m actually pretty flattered you thought I was that convincing,” she laughed.

“Of course! You were amazing! Oh god, then Angel died!”

“Yeah, Benjamin’s fantastic. He’s right over there, actually.” She pointed over to the guy talking to some of the cast members. Riley’s eyes shot open.

“I have to go hug him!”

“Riley, maybe not, you don’t know him-” But she had already darted over to him. “Or do that, that’s cool.” Zay laughed.

“I’ll go make sure she doesn’t get kicked out. Great job up there, Mimi.” He gave her a quick hug then ran off to check on Riley. Maya looked over at Lucas and they stood there a little awkwardly for a bit. Then he smiled and walked up to give her a one-armed hug.

“Told you you’d do great.”

“I don’t know about that, but it was really fun and you did help a lot.”

“Yeah, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had as convincing a performance as a Catscratch Club dancer. I think my part really sold it.” He smirked at her.

“You know I just wanted to make you blush. And I succeeded. I felt your face warm up, mister. Don’t try to hide it.” He rolled his eyes a little. “Anyway, I wanted to make you part of my performance. God knows you worked as hard as I did.”

“No, you worked your ass off. All I did was sing a little.”

“You did such a better job than Derek. Kissing him was a miserable experience. His breath was horrible and I kept wishing it was you up there.” She stopped and stiffened, realizing what that sounded like. Lucas eased her discomfort.

“Well, maybe I can make it at least a little better.” He brought his hand from behind his back and presented her with a single rose. Her jaw dropped a little and her eyes lit up. She accepted it, staring at it like she didn’t know what to do. To prevent herself from tearing up she leaned her head down and inhaled its scent, closing her eyes. Then she chuckled.

“You really do put work into our little game, don’t you?” She looked up at him, both smiling widely. He put an arm around her as they walked over to their friends.

“You know, I really do.


	10. Surprise Sister

“Done!” Lucas sat back, looking at his laptop screen. His 12-page paper was finally finished. He looked around at the empty library, then at his phone. It was now currently 1:47 am. When did that happen? He tucked his computer back into its case and stood up to stretch. He was about to leave when he heard the faint clicking of a mouse followed by small shouts of profanity. Curious, he walked toward the computer cubicles where the sound was coming from.

“God damnit!” *click click click* Lucas peeked his head behind the cubicle that was farthest back, tucked into a corner. He thought he knew that voice! Maya was sitting at the computer, watching some tutorial video and trying to mimic the hand gestures the woman in the video was doing.

“What are you doing, Maya?” Maya jumped and quickly closed out of the browser.

“Jesus Christ, Howdy Doody! Give a little warning before you sneak up on a girl in a dark corner in the middle of the night. I could’ve maced your ass!” She leaned back and put her hand over her heart a little dramatically. Lucas couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Sorry, Pancake. I just thought I was the only one left in the library and heard sounds of distress so I thought I’d check it out.” Maya made a “pssh” sound.

“I’m never in distress, cowboy, so why don’t you go ride off into the sunset alone.” Lucas tilted his head and studied her.

“Are you okay? You’re being a little abrasive with the cowboy jokes. What were you doing?” Maya fidgeted in her seat and played with her hands.

“Nothin’.” 

“Okay, you don’t want to tell me. That’s fine, I can respect that.”

“Good boy. Let’s go home.” 

 

Lucas quickly forgot about the encounter. There was no use dwelling on it. If Maya didn’t want to tell you, you weren’t gonna get it out of her. It was a couple days later and Lucas had left for class without his textbook so he ran back to get it. When he opened the front door he saw Maya on the couch with her laptop, watching another tutorial. When she heard him she slammed her laptop closed.

“What the hell, Huckleberry! Do you make a living scaring the shit outta me? I thought everyone had gone to class.”

“Uh, sorry Maya, I just forgot my book.” He picked it up off of the coffee table. “What are you doing that’s so secretive, anyway?”

“Nothing! I’m just trying to get some work done before I have to go to class later, that’s all.” Lucas stood behind the couch with his hand on the doorknob.”

“You know… You can always confide in me. I don’t judge, I have no room to judge, but I would never judge you. I know something’s wrong, you’ve been chewing on your hair a lot more, lately. I’m going to respect your privacy but just know that you can tell me anything.” She stared straight ahead, pulling the ends of her hair out of her mouth.

“I just want to get my work done,” she said quietly, sounding somewhat on the verge of tears. He stared at the back of her head for a long minute before leaving. Whatever this was it was really bothering her. He had to keep telling himself that if she really needed help she would come to him. Or at least Riley. This didn’t stop him from worrying and he spent the entirety of his class conjuring up possibilities for her emotional, secretive state.

That night, when everyone was asleep, Lucas did something he wasn’t proud of. He opened the girls’ bedroom door as quietly as he could. His eyes flickered between their beds to make sure they were really asleep. When he saw that they were, her creeped over to Maya’s desk and picked up her laptop, then sneaked out into the living room. He opened it up and after, a few tries, guessed the password: Monet. Her favorite artist. She only had one page opened. It was Facebook and the chat was opened. She had been talking to someone named Kermit. He didn’t get a chance to read anything though. The door to the girls’ room creaked open. With cat-like reflexes, Lucas closed the computer and army crawled to the other side of the room. Once he was behind the couch he glanced up to see Riley getting something to drink. He stood up.

“Riley!” he whisper/shouted. Riley threw the contents of her glass in the air and spun around.

“Holy geez, Lucas!”

“Sorry, I need to stop doing that.”

“Ugh, ya think?” She grabbed some paper towels and started wiping up the floor. “What do you need?”

“It’s about Maya. She’s been acting all secretive and sad. And… I saw something on her laptop…” Riley paused and looked up at him.

“You were snooping around on her laptop? You know she’ll kill you dead if she finds out, right?”

“Yeah, I know my fate, but I was worried! She was chatting with someone I didn’t recognize. Does the name, Kermit, mean anything to you?” Riley stared at him.

“If you’re trying to tell me Maya’s been chatting up a frog I’m gonna stick your head in the freezer.”

“What? No! But she was talking to someone on Facebook named Kermit and I thought maybe he had to do with the way she was acting.”

“Did it ever occur to you that you should stay out of her business and let her come to us if and when she’s ready?”

“Of course I did, but something weird’s going on. She’s watching videos and making weird gestures with her hands and always looks guilty or upset when I catch her doing it.” Riley narrowed her eyes then walked over to the freezer and opened it.

“Come here.” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“I’m being serious.” Riley closed the door.

“Okay, but still. Butt out.” Lucas looked defeated but sighed and nodded his head.

“Fine.” Riley walked into the living room and picked up the laptop.

“And don’t let this become a habit. I’m telling Maya to change her password.” She used two fingers to point at her eyes and then pointed at him, signaling that she was watching him. He stood there, looking sullen. Riley put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I love that you’re showing so much concern for her. But you know Maya. She talk about it when she’s ready.” He nodded and she patted his cheek before going back to bed. Lucas ran a hand through his hair and retreated to his bedroom as well.

It was just a couple days later when Lucas was sitting, bored out of his mind, in his Psychology 101 class. He heard his phone buzz and normally he would ignore it because he was in class but he needed a distraction before his brain melted. 

**From Shortstack: Lucas… I think I’m ready to tell you what’s wrong. Could you come home? I really need you right now. I understand if you can’t leave class.**

That got his attention. He quickly shoved everything into his bag and, scanning the room to make sure no one was looking, slinked out the door. Good thing he sat in the back row of the lecture hall.

**To Shortstack: I’m on my way.**

He was walking through the door no less than ten minutes later. He dropped his bag by the door, in search of the blonde.

“Maya?”

“Over here,” came a small voice. He looked to his left and saw her sitting on the ground in the little crevice between the armchair and then couch. She was yet again sitting in front of her laptop. She had tears in her eyes but she was smiling. He was really confused but he crouched down in front of her.

“What’s going on, Maya?” She didn’t say anything, just raised her hands and made different gestures and signs. She was talking in sign language.

“I don’t know what that means.” Maya patted the ground next to her and he sat down. She raised her hands repeated the gestures.

“It means, ‘I’m more than fine.’ I-I’ve been learning ASL for a little while now. I’m not fluent or perfect or anything but I’m getting there.”

“Well that’s great, Maya, but I’m still confused as to why you had to hide it or why you were getting so upset.” He had such a strong look of concern on his face but her eyes were just full of wonder. She picked up her laptop.

“I want you to meet someone, if that’s alright?” He nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I guess.” She turned the computer so they could both see the screen and sat it on the ground in front of them. Skype was opened and they were looking at a little girl with short blonde hair and big eyes. She bore a slight resemblance to Maya and looked excited. Maya spoke to her with her new sign language skills. She also spoke out loud so Lucas would know what she was saying.

“Hi, Polly! This is my friend, Lucas.” She spelled out his name. “He’s the one I was telling you about.” Polly smiled and signed back. Maya laughed.

“She says you’re really handsome.” She turned back to the screen. “One second.” She turned back to him. “My father contacted me.” Lucas’ jaw dropped.

“Really? Maya, I’m so sorry. Was it at least civil?” Maya chuckled a little.

“Yeah. I was so upset at first. Like, how dare he try to make nice this far down the road, you know? But I heard him out and he heard what I had to say and, I don’t know, it was very therapeutic. Anyway, he told me about his new wife and...his new daughter, Polly.” She wiggled her fingers at her and the young girl smiled and waved back. “She’s seven years old and completely deaf. My dad said that he had told her about me and said she really wanted to meet me. I’ve been learning ASL nonstop so I could talk to her as soon as possible. I don’t want to leave her hanging. I couldn’t let another one of his kid’s down. God knows the first one,” she pointed to herself, “has been let down enough in her life. And the first time I ever talked to her I saw so much of myself in her. I immediately wanted to do nothing but protect her. I mean, look at her. She’s innocence and childlike wonder personified. This girl is precious.” Lucas glanced at the screen and back to Maya.

“Oh, Maya, that must’ve been a lot of emotion you had to deal with. I can’t even imagine. I’m happy to hear you’re on good terms with your father, though. I’m so happy for you.” He reached out and hugged her briefly. When they let go, Maya wiped away a stray tear.

“So! Would you like to meet her?”

“Yeah, I really would.” They turned back to the screen.

“Sorry about that, sweetie. Anyway, this is Lucas. He likes animals just like you do. He’s gonna be a vet and help them get better.” Polly smiled a toothy grin and signed back. Maya smiled and shook her head.

“She asked if you can do sign language.”

“But I would really like to learn!” he jumped in, looking at Polly. “Could you tell her that?” Maya looked at him, longingly.

“Yeah. Of course,” she said softly.

After an hour or so Polly said that her mom was making lunch so she had to go.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon!” She waved at her as Polly quickly signed something else before logging off. Maya sat there with a slightly shocked expression. Lucas eyed the computer.

“What did she say?”

“Uh… She said she hopes she can talk to my boyfriend again sometime. That little monster knew she was being cheeky. With that smirk of hers. God, I love her already.” Lucas looked at her, admiringly.

“You’re the perfect big sister.” Maya looked down into her lap and shrugged a little. Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m serious. Not many people would jump at the opportunity to learn a language just so they could talk to someone they don’t know, who is associated with someone from their dark past. You really are amazing. And I would love to talk to Polly again. But not like this.” Maya gave him a skeptical look.

“What do you mean?”

“Teach me?” His eyes were big and blue, like a child’s.

“Teach you sign language?”

“Yeah, you inspired me so much in the last hour. Plus, that little girl is adorable and means so much to you.” Maya raised her hands as she spoke.

“Thank you so much.” Lucas tried to mimic her gestures. Maya took his hands and faced his palms toward her. She then touched her hands to his and had him follow the movements to a couple simple sentences. It took a while for him to catch on because his eyes kept drifting up to her face but he eventually got the hang of it. And soon he was coming to her a few times a week to learn more. A couple months later he was able to talk directly to Polly and Maya could only watch them in awe.


	11. Swings Both Ways

It started when they were all in the living room, watching a movie.

“Oh my god, I love Mila Kunis. She is so hot.” Lucas turned to look at Maya. She looked content, like what she said was completely natural. Nobody else thought anything of it so he decided to shrug it off. But when it came to a seen where Mila Kunis was in nothing but her underwear he noticed how Maya’s jaw had dropped a little and she was almost drooling. He kept giving her glances with a weird expression. After about the tenth glance Maya looked over to him.

“What?”

“...Nothing.”

The next time he noticed was when they had a new TA come into their Philosophy class and Maya’s eyes didn’t leave her the entire session. Once the class was dismissed he saw her run up to the woman. He couldn’t tell what they were saying but it was obvious Maya was flirting with her, what with the close proximity and the way Maya kept playing with her hair. Lucas narrowed it down to getting in good with the new teacher for a better grade. 

And the last time he noticed was when they were studying on the grass by the quad and a girl walked by. She had a grunge look to her: band T-shirt, ripped tights, combat boots, and long red hair. When Maya saw her she quickly shoved him in the shoulder.

“Act cool!” The girl grew nearer.

“Hey, Maya.” She waved.

“H-Hey, Lydia.” The girl winked and kept walking. Lucas looked at Maya. She looked starstruck. After a moment she recovered and turned back to her textbook.

“What was that?” Maya looked back up at him.

“What was what? She’s cool.” But Lucas could see the faint blush on her cheeks. He didn’t pry though. 

That afternoon Lucas called Riley and Zay into the livingroom.

“Okay, I’m gonna make this quick before Maya gets out of her last class. What is up with her?” Riley quirked an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s been acting...uh, I don’t want to sound offensive but, I don’t know.”

“Lucas, you’re constantly asking me ‘What’s up with Maya’ but you never take my advice: Let her come to you. If there’s something wrong or something she’s hiding she’ll let it be known. But seriously, she’s a big girl. I’m sure she’s okay.” Lucas sighed.

“But everytime I do come to you there is something she’s hiding. Why am I the only one that notices these things?” Zay pushed off the wall he was leaning on.

“Cuz you spend way more time staring at her than we do.” He had a slight smirk on his face but Lucas could tell he was being serious.

“I...I do not. Maybe I’m the only one who cares enough to pay attention.” Riley looked hurt.

“You know we care about her, Lucas. It’s just sometimes she really doesn’t want people to know some things.” He was about to retort but the front door opened. Maya walked in and paused.

“Woah, what kind of secret ritual meeting are we having here? Did I miss the virgin sacrifice?” She looked over at Riley who looked a little uncomfortable. “Oh no, it’s you, isn’t it?” She dramatically flung her arms around her friend. “I’ll miss you, Riles!” Then she went to get a snack from the kitchen. Riley scoffed.

“Just cuz I’m a virgin doesn’t mean you have to rub it in. And thanks for putting up such a fight for me, bestie!” 

“Love you too, babe!” she said through a mouthful of apple. Lucas looked between the two, in thought. Maybe that’s just how girls act around one another. Had he really made a big deal about nothing? Not that it was a big deal! He would support his friend through anything. 

That night he saw Maya sitting out on the fire escape and decided to approach her with his troubling mind. He took a deep breath and slid the door open. She looked up at him and gave a nod of acknowledgement. She was wrapped in a blanket and listening to jazz music, staring out at the skyline before her. Lucas stepped out and immediately shivered. Running his hands up and down his arms, he cocked his head at her.

“Aren’t you freezing? It’s like 35 degrees out here.” Maya smirked, eyes not faltering.

“Sometimes you gotta bear a little cold to see such an amazing view.” Lucas looked out at the skyscrapers, twinkling with all of their lights. It was admittedly nice but then a shiver ran through him again, reminding him it almost wasn’t worth it. Maya lifted an arm, opening her blanket on one side.

“C’mere.” She scooted over on the bench she was sitting on and wrapped the blanket around Lucas as well once he sat down.

“Thanks.” Lucas was visibly blushing, he knew it. He knew his feelings for Maya were steadily migrating away from friendship and on towards something he won’t even let himself think. But he knows that’s why the possibility of Maya being not-so attracted to men has been upsetting him. He had to have her confirm or deny it. Otherwise he’d go crazy.

“So… you really liked our new TA, huh?”

“Yeah, she was so pretty.” She didn’t say anything else so Lucas pressed on.

“And that Lydia chick. She was pretty attractive, too.” Maya turned to look at him.

“Watch out, Hopalong. She’s mine.” Lucas could feel his heartbeat speeding up.

“Why don’t you ask her out then?” he tested. Maya laughed a little bitterly.

“She’s way out of my league. I get so nervous just being around her.” Lucas wondered if this was what the end of the world felt like. You know, everything crashing down around you, loud ringing in your ears, the immense feeling of defeat. He could even feel the slight stinging behind his eyes. But he downright refused to tear up. He was being incredibly selfish. One of his best friends can’t help who she is. Even if she could, she doesn’t have to change anything about her for his benefit. She was perfect in every way. If some other guy wanted her to change he would promptly knock him on his ass. He couldn’t believe the way he was acting. But he had to make sure, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

“...You’re gay?” he asked hesitantly. Maya furrowed her brows and smiled at him in an amused way.

“Bisexual, actually. Just ‘cause I don’t go waving around a rainbow flag and kissin’ all the pretty ladies doesn’t mean you should be so shocked about it.”

“I-I didn’t mean it in a bad way! I don’t want to offend you or anything.” She reached out and covered his mouth.

“And this doesn’t mean you have to be careful with what you say to me. I’m no different. I’m not all fragile or some shit all of a sudden. I’m still Maya.” She released him and he looked down at her apologetically.

“Sorry.” Maya looked at him incredulously and was about to yell at him so Lucas hurried along. “I don’t mean that in a ‘you’re fragile’ sort of way. I’m apologizing for being inconsiderate and naive.” Maya’s eyes softened.

“It’s alright, Huckleberry. Don’t sweat it. I’ll say you definitely reacted better than my mother.” She smirked at the memory. “She was so afraid of putting that wall up between us again that she did all she could to show me that she was cool with it. Any time we watched TV together she would make sure to point out how pretty all the girls were. She even tried to bring up LGBT shows like Glee or Modern Family to ‘show her support.’ That got so annoying. But I love her and I’m glad she made the effort. Just like I know you will do everything in your power to show support, I know you. But there’s nothing really  _ to _ support. I date a guy, you threaten him to watch out if he hurts me. I date a girl, you do the exact same thing. No change.” She got up in his face and looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t want you to change, Huckleberry. I don’t want anything to change. Okay?” Lucas nodded, transfixed. “Good.” She patted his cheek lightly.

The song changed and Maya’s eyes lit up.

“I adore this song!” She whispered, still looking at Lucas. She grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around herself. “Dance with me.” She put her arms around his neck, enveloping him in the blanket as well. He rested his hands on her waist and drew her closer. She laid her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of hers as they swayed.

“I adore  _ you _ ,” he mumbled.


	12. Party Too Hard part I

As the year went on, the group of friends attended more and more parties. Zay had convinced them to go to a few more frat parties and they got more comfortable with them. Tonight was celebrating finals being over so it was a big deal. So this time they all decided to throw a party of their own. They all had an array of friends so there was no doubt that the word would spread. Zay demanded he be in charge of music to make sure all they played wasn’t just “white people music.”

“Come on, Zay. Give us more credit than that.” Zay turned to look at his best friend.

“Please. I put you in charge and we’re listening to a square dance mix.”

“Hey, you listened to my kind of music in Texas.”

“You can’t prove that. And if I put Riley in charge, God knows we’ll be listening to cookie cutter, Taylor Swift, sparkle funtime music all night.” Riley looked up at them from where she was hanging streamers. In a calm voice she said, “I would get angry... if that weren’t true.” She shrugged and went back to decorating. Zay shook his head, chuckling.

“The only person I might trust would be Penelope-”

“Watch it!” Maya shot them a glare from the kitchen, then went back to making snacks.

“Because she’s got some taste. But lately she’s been succumbing to your guys’ music.”

“I listen to a little Darius Rucker and Christina Aguilera and I’m labeled for life!”

“ANYWAY, I will be in charge of the beats. You are in charge of keeping things from getting out of hand.” Lucas gave him a weird look.

“So I’m the bouncer or something?”

“Relax, man. You’re still allowed to have fun and such, but if a fight breaks out or someone is told to leave it’s your duty to escort them out. I would trust no one else for the job.” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Thanks for the flattery. There’s no one else for the job, anyway. So if I refuse, you’re screwed.” Zay shrugged.

“I could always have Maya do it. She’s small but fierce.” Maya raised a fist in the air without looking up from her task. “But then again, we could just let all the fights commence and have the cops called. That would be fun.” Lucas sighed.

“Fine. But if everyone starts fighting I’m pulling the plug on the party. I’m just one man.” Maya snorted.

“Hardly.” Lucas glared at her.

“Go back to your cookies, woman.” He knew he made a mistake the second he said it. The air grew still and everything went quiet. Maya stood up straight and hopped off the step stool she was standing on and walked over to him. It was crazy how menacing she could look when she was looking  _ up  _ at him. She got into his personal space.

“What was that?” she said, abnormally calm and quiet. Lucas’ eyes widened.

“Nothing…” Maya smirked.

“That was the closest to a ‘Get back in the kitchen’ joke you’ve ever said to me. And it will be the closest you ever get. Cuz I could make you my bitch at the snap of my fingers.”

“Too late,” Zay mumbled.

“Don’t help!” Lucas pleaded. Maya smiled in a devious way and patted him on the cheek.

“You may be the muscle of this operation but I know ten ways to emasculate a man, including mentally, verbally, and literally.”

“I’d believe her,” Riley piped up. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a switchblade in her nightstand.” Lucas swallowed hard. They all went back to what they were doing. Riley had succeeded in making the apartment look like it was set up for a six year old’s birthday party but no one had the heart to tell her. Zay managed to create a suitable playlist on his laptop. Lucas put away anything that was potentially breakable. And Maya was finishing up on setting out snacks. This seemed to be difficult seeing as she was currently standing on her step stool and still couldn’t reach the top shelf in the cupboard. She grunted in frustration as she stretched. Hearing someone chuckled behind her, she stopped what she was doing and spun around. Lucas was leaning against the island with an amused grin on his face.

“Need help?” Maya narrowed her eyes at him.

“No. Go away.” She turned back around, stretching as much as she could, though it was fruitless. Lucas sighed, still smirking. He walked right up behind her.

“Maya, it’s no big deal. Let me help.” 

“Forget it, Huckleberry. I’m not incompetent.”

“I never said you were.” Maya ignored him and stood on her tiptoes.

“Be careful, please.” Lucas looked worried. Maya, again, ignored him and leaned forward and balanced on one foot. This made the step stool tip forward and as soon as Maya grabbed the flour she was reaching for she came tumbling down. Lucas lunged for her, grabbing her waist just before her head could come in contact with the counter. This didn’t stop the flour from bursting open and covering them both, raining down like light snow. They stared at each other as the makeshift snow fell around them. Lucas set Maya down.

“Are you alright?” Lucas asked, brushing the white out off of her face, gently. She stared at him as he used his thumbs to swipe under her eyes.

“Uh, yeah. You?” He smiled.

“I’m not the one who nearly got a concussion.” Maya smiled back at him, reaching up and shaking his hair out.

“Though I do like the Jack Frost look on you, you don’t look that intimidating. And you can use all the help you can get if you’re gonna be our bouncer.” Lucas laughed lightly.

“Yeah, you’re right. We might as well just use you, except for the fact that you can’t see over the heads of that many people.” He grabbed her waist again and lifted her up onto the counter. “There you are!” He had a dopey grin on his face while Maya crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

“I can and will still kick your ass.”

“Awe, don’t be like that, Pancake.” He tucked her slightly powdered hair behind her ear.

“Oh my god, just make out already!” They both started and turned to see Zay staring at them, looking frustrated. “I mean, come on! I won’t even be upset. I’ll be more upset if you don’t at this point!” Riley came out of her room and grabbed Zay by the ear.

“Zay, if I can’t meddle, neither can you!”

“But-”

“No. Now we have to go meet up with the guy that’s buying us alcohol.”

“We’re having alcohol?” Lucas asked.

“Uh, yeah. Did you really think we wouldn’t?” Zay laughed.

“Well, this makes my job less fun.” Maya pushed him away from her, lightly, and hopped down.

“Yeah, have fun with that, Hopalong. But for now, go shower. The party’s gonna start in like an hour.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve gotta finish these damned cookies. I’ll get one later.”

 

After Lucas washed up he started to get dressed and was about to put his shirt on when he heard Maya scream.

“MOTHERFUCK!” Without thinking, Lucas ran out of the bathroom. He saw Maya hunched over with a tray and cookies scattered across the floor.

“Maya, what happened?” Maya lifted her head up and Lucas could see her clutching her hand, tears in her eyes.

“I was in such a hurry to get everything done that I was a dumbass and, without thinking, grabbed the cookies out of the oven with my bare fucking hand!” Lucas sidestepped the mess on the floor and gingerly grabbed her hand.

“No, don’t.” Maya tried to tug her hand away but Lucas wouldn’t relent. He examined her burn and saw that it was clear across her palm and fingers and was starting to blister already. 

“Here.” He ran some cold water and placed her hand under the stream. Maya sighed in relief. “Stay here.” He ran to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

“Where the fuck do you think I’m gonna go?” she shouted after him.

“Don’t be sassy with me, Miss Clumsy.” He emerged with the kit and, without asking, placed her on the counter again.

“You know, I’m not some rag doll you can pick up and place wherever you please.” Lucas set to placing burn cream and bandages on her hand.

“You sure? You’re kind of adorable like one.” Maya tried to glare at him but she couldn’t help but blush. Plus she was in so much pain she didn’t have it in her to play mean girl. She glanced at the ground and sighed.

“At least I got one batch done. People better like these cookies. They tried to kill me.” Lucas laughed.

“I’m sure they will. And if they don’t I’ll crack my knuckles in a threatening manner like the big scary bouncer that I am and they’ll have to like them.” Maya rolled her eyes and looked at him. He finished bandaging her hand, holding it lightly in his own hands and rubbing it soothingly. She just noticed that he was standing before her, shirtless. She kept trying to tear her gaze away but her eyes would always flicker back to his torso. 

“Are you sure you’re not a fireman?” He gave her a weird look so she explained. “Big buff shirtless man came to the rescue of a helpless girl who burned herself and treated her wounds.” It was Lucas’ turn to roll his eyes.

“First of all, I was in the middle of changing, thank you very much. Secondly, of course I would come to help. You screamed pretty loud, I thought you were seriously hurt. And third,” He closed the first aid kit and pointed to her, “You are not helpless. You are probably the least helpless person I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna help you anyway.” Maya looked down at her feet as she start swinging them.

“I don’t know. I feel kinda helpless.” Lucas’ eyes softened.

“Well, don’t.” He helped her down and she hiss through her teeth.

“Oh! Sorry, I gotta be careful around that hand.” Maya had her eyes closed, taking deep breaths. She was still in a lot of pain. Lucas cradled her hand in his and dipped his head down to kiss lightly over the bandages. Maya opened her eyes, biting her lip.

“Awww…” Again, they both jumped and turned to the front door to see their roommates looking on and cooing.

“I take it back, meddle. Meddle all you can to get them together,” Riley said to Zay. Maya wouldn’t meet their eyes as she pushed Lucas toward his room.

“Go get dressed, Huck, the party really is gonna start soon.” He did as he was told but not before hearing Riley ask Maya what happened to her hand.

“Just me failing at yet another easy task.”


	13. Party Too Hard part II

The party had been going on for a while and everyone was having fun. The apartment was filled to the brim with their peers and people were dancing and talking and drinking. So far Lucas hadn’t had to escort anyone out and he was eternally grateful for that. Riley had been so far drunk after her second drink and was now standing on the couch, dancing. Lucas made sure to keep an eye on her so she didn’t hurt herself. Zay was currently chatting up a girl in the corner.

He was looking around to find Maya when a girl walked up to him.

“Hey, Lucas! Great party.”

“Hey, Vanessa. Thanks.” Vanessa was in his and Maya’s Philosophy class. She was a straight A student, in every club imaginable, and had an obvious crush on Lucas. She was known for getting anything she strived for and her next target seemed to be him. It’s not that she wasn’t nice, Lucas just wasn’t interested. She began to twirl her hair in the least subtle way possible.

“So… Would you like to do something sometime?” Lucas raised his eyebrows. He didn’t want to just flat out turn her down, here in front of everyone.

“Uh, I’m flattered, Vanessa. Really. But I-I actually have a thing for someone else..?” he panicked. Her face dropped. Lucas looked up and finally found Maya.

“There you are!” He gestured to her. Anything to end this awkward encounter. Maya slowly made her way over. It was obvious she was drunk.

“Maya, how many drinks have you had?” He put his arm around her to steady her as she swayed. She didn’t look at him, glaring at Vanessa.

“I lost count after five.” Lucas raised his eyebrows at her.

“Seriously? Maya, what am I gonna do with you?” He hugged her to his side. Vanessa looked between the two.

“Her?” Before Lucas could ask what she meant, Zay announced they were starting a game of Never Have I Ever in the living room. A devious look crossed Vanessa’s face. She grabbed Lucas’ hand.

“Let’s go play,” she said in a somewhat seductive voice, then pulled him along, all the while smugly looking at Maya. She led them over to the circle and pushed him into a sitting position, plopping down next to him. Maya sat across from them, not looking happy.

Zay stood up." Okay, bitches.” Lucas rolled his eyes. All of his friends were drunk without him. “This is how you play: Someone says ‘Never have I ever…’ followed by something that they've never done. If you've happened to do that thing you lose a point. Everyone starts with ten points. The first to zero loses and has to do a dare. Okay… Lucas! Why don't you go first.” Lucas was a little shocked with everyone's eyes on him.

“Uh, okay. Never have I ever… been to second base.” A bunch of people groaned as they lost a point. Zay looked at his best friend, shocked.

“Really, man?”

“What? I haven't.” Zay shook his head disapprovingly.

“Okay, Maya, you’re up.” Maya looked up from her lap and stared at Lucas with an angry expression.

“Never have I ever been perfect. Oops, Riley, Vanessa, you lose a point.” Everyone looked a little uncomfortable until Zay spoke up again.

“...Okay! My turn. Never have I ever been at a party and NOT kissed a pretty girl.” He waggled his eyebrows at the girls, who, in turn, giggled. They continued with the game for a little while. It was Vanessa’s turn. She looked dreamily at Lucas as she spoke.

“Never have I ever not gotten straight A’s.”

“Would you look at that, I’m out! Big shocker there!” Maya stood up. “What’s my punishment?” Zay considered it for a minute.

“Well, since it was my idea to play I’ll give you your dare. Hmm…” He pretended to think, as if they all didn’t know what he was gonna do. “I dare you to kiss Lucas.” Lucas was shocked by his friend’s words. Maya kept looking back and forth between Zay and Lucas. Vanessa looked scandalized. Lucas stood up.

“Zay that’s not fair. Don’t do that. W-We don’t have to do this.” He looked to Maya for reassurance but she was stone faced.

“Yeah, Zay. He obviously doesn’t want to. Don’t make him go through that torture.” She turned away.

“Maya...that’s not-” But she just grabbed two more beers and locked herself in her room. Vanessa grabbed Lucas’ arm.

“Well, thank god she’s gone. She was such a drag.” Lucas shook her off of him.

“Now’s not the time, Vanessa. Something is obviously wrong.” She huffed and pouted a little.

“Yeah, like the fact that you don’t want me. Is she really worth it?” Lucas paused and then turned to her.

“You know what? Yes she is.” He was about to go knock on Maya’s door but a fight broke out in the kitchen and he had to go break it up.

 

It was around 2 am when everyone had left and they had all decided to go to bed. Lucas was still worried about Maya. He never got a chance to talk to her and she only opened her door to let an extremely drunk Riley in. He tossed and turned for about an hour before he saw their door creak open. He watched intently as a figure tip toed in and closed the door behind them. Then it walked over to Zay’s bed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to do this earlier,” he heard whispered. Then came the unmistakable sound of kissing and rustling of sheets as the person was pulled onto the bed. Lucas was really freaked out so he sat up and switched on his bedside lamp. What he saw shocked him more than anything in his life. Maya lay next to Zay, kissing him, while his hands combed through her hair.

“What the hell is going on?!?” The two pulled apart with the deafening smacking sound of lips. Once they opened their eyes they both screamed. Maya shoved Zay off and rolled off the bed. She stood up and stared at him, then whipped around to stare at Lucas.

“You’re...there.” She turned back to Zay. “And you’re...there. Oh dear god.” She covered her face with her hands. Lucas threw the covers off of his legs and stood between them.

“What the hell was that, man?” Zay sat up, pulling the covers to his chin, looking scared.

“Dude, I swear I didn’t plan this.” Lucas didn’t know who to look at more questioningly.

“Well, who’s idea was this?” When they spoke, they spoke in unision.

“I thought he was you!”

“I thought she was Riley!” It was silent for a long minute.

“Wait, what?” He saw Maya’s face flush a deep red.

“Nevermind. Sorry I woke you guys up.” And with that, she hurried out of their room. Lucas looked at his best friend and pointed at him.

“This isn’t over. We’re talking about you and Riley later.” Zay lifted his hands in surrender. Lucas darted out the door, after Maya. He was expecting to have to bust their bedroom door down, but when he entered the living room he saw her on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest. Lucas sighed deeply and sat at the other end of the couch.

“...You wanna talk about it?” Maya shook her head vigorously like a child. Lucas turned toward her, pulling one leg up onto the couch in a comfortable position. He knew this was gonna take a while.

“Maya, what was that all about? First you seem really upset at the party and then you lock yourself in your room, and now I wake up to see you making out with Zay.”

“I didn’t mean to,” she mumbled. Lucas ran a hand through his hair.

“Well, as it is, you are still clearly drunk, but I don’t think that would drive you to do that. What’s up? You can tell me anything.” Maya finally lifted her head up.

“I can’t cook.” Lucas gave her a weird look, not understanding her reasoning. “I can’t make a simple batch of fucking cookies. I can’t do day-to-day things that all girls are supposed to do without hurting myself and bothering everyone else. I’m not Vanessa.” That made Lucas’ ears perk up.

“No, you’re not. You’re Maya. Why do you wanna be like her?” Maya didn’t answer, just continued.

“I don’t get perfect grades, I’m not sociable at all. I’m not Suzy Homemaker like her. I’m not bubbly and cheerful, I’m not all cute and adorable. I’m not like Riley. I’m not ladylike at all and I cause more trouble than I’m worth.” Lucas could have sworn he felt his heart break.

“Oh honey…” Maya still paid him no mind.

“So when I saw you with Vanessa I knew you’d prefer to have her in your company. I lost at Never Have I Ever for fuck’s sake! I wasn’t gonna make you do something you obviously didn’t want to do so I made sure you didn’t have to kiss me. I didn’t want to repulse you.” Lucas had heard enough. He pried her arms apart and pulled her into his lap, holding her to his chest.

“Let me go, Huckleberry. I don’t need your pity.” Lucas shook his head.

“How could you think you are anything less than perfect? Of course you’re not Vanessa or Riley. But that’s because you’re Maya. There are already thousands of Suzy Homemakers out there, we don’t need any more. But there is only one Maya Hart and she is loud and rambunctious and she is a great artist and an outstanding friend. She can sing and bring a tear to anyone’s eye and turn around and kick anyone’s ass that tells her she can’t do something.” Maya started to sniffle so he started rocking them back and forth a little. “She makes mistakes and laughs them off, she’s not afraid to get angry or to cry.” He wiped a few stray tears away and smiled down at her. “She’s beautiful and messy and prone to accidents but I’ll always be there with a first aid kit and a few choice jokes to cheer her up. She’s all nicknames and “ha-hurr’s.” She’s raw and sincere and true and perfect. Don’t ever think you are any different, okay?” Maya looked down and nodded slightly.

“And don’t assume that just because you’re not a certain type that people don’t care for and admire you.” He cleared his throat a little and mumbled, “And don’t assume people don’t want to kiss you.” Maya looked up at him.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” He tilted his head and kissed her on the forehead. He wasn’t going to actually kiss her when she was still intoxicated and most likely won’t remember it in the morning.

“Anyway, you should get to bed. Sleep off the rest of the dastardly alcohol and all that.” She smiled.

“Okay, you doof.” She stood up and walked to her door before turning back to him. “Lucas?” He looked up at her at the sound of his actual name. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Maya.”

“And could you not tell Riley I kissed Zay? I know they both have a thing for each other and I don’t want her to be upset. I mean, they’re practically dating. I don’t blame him for thinking I was her.”

“Uh, yeah, no problem.”

“And don’t worry, he wasn’t that good of a kisser so you don’t have to be jealous.” She waved and left him alone with a slightly shocked expression. He just chuckled and got up to go to bed.


	14. Some Wishes Do Come True

Lucas woke up early that morning with every intention of wishing Maya a happy birthday but he got a text from his lab partner, asking him if he could meet up with him before class to go over their work. He sighed and replied with an ‘ok’ and got ready for the day. He stopped by the girls’ doorway before leaving but they were both fast asleep and he didn’t want to disturb them. He’ll see Maya later anyway.

He was about to leave his class to go home to see Maya and maybe take her out to lunch to celebrate, when a pretty bad fight broke out in the middle of campus. Two guys were throwing punches and slurs and a large group of people had gathered around them, egging them on. Of course Lucas couldn’t just let it happen. He stepped between them and had to dodge a few swings. Then the bigger one got around him and tackled the other to the ground. Lucas managed to pull him off just when a security guard approached them. And of course it had looked like he was a part of the fight so he had to go in with them to answer questions. He never did find out why they were fighting.

By that point he had to get to another class. It was his Zoology class which was very important to him if he wanted to become a veterinarian. He got back his test and saw that he had gotten a C on it. This lead to him being distraught for the rest of the day. He didn’t even think to at least text Maya birthday wishes. He had completely forgotten about it altogether. He would soon regret that.

He had spent the remainder of the day talking to his professor, pleading for a makeup test and then studying in the library like his life depended on it. He was on his way out of the library at around 9 pm when he ran into Riley, who looked distraught.

“Hey, Riles, what’s up?” She looked up at him with wide eyes.

“I was working on a paper that’s due next week when I saw that I have another paper due tomorrow that I completely forgot about! Not only that, but I have a pop quiz for Algebra sometime this week. I can’t do it, Lucas. My brain’s gonna implode!” Lucas chuckled and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Riley, it’ll be okay. You’re smart, you’ll get through all of this. I’ll leave you alone so you can work. Just don’t forget to take small breaks so you don’t actually die.” Riley nodded and sat down.

“Oh, Lucas! Just so you know, Zay’s not gonna be home ‘til late tonight. He said his ballet group is going to some competition soon, they just got accepted today. He said he’s gonna be doing nothing but practice.” Lucas held back a laugh.

“I actually forgot he was doing ballet. Good for him.” He waved goodbye and headed out into the cold.

When the wind finally blew him into their building, he saw that it was a quarter to ten. Walking up the stairs, he kept trying to shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. He checked his pockets and saw that he had his keys and phone. He had all of his notes. He opened the door to see that all of the lights were off. He could just make out the small banner that had been hung up in the living room.

‘ **HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL** ’

Lucas’ eyes widened. Oh shit. He ran to Maya’s room and found it to be empty. He dug into his pockets and fished out his phone, calling ‘Penelope.’ After a couple rings he could hear a the lines of ‘Cowboy’ by Kid Rock coming from the fire escape. He put his phone away, knowing she wasn’t going to answer. He tentatively walked up to the doorway. There he saw Maya in her usual spot on the bench, wrapped in two different blankets, with a whole cheesecake on the table in front of her. There were nineteen candles in it but they weren’t lit. Without looking up, she spoke.

“Did you like the banner? My mom made it for me on my fifth birthday and I’ve used it every year since.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said quietly. He didn’t know what else to say. He took a couple steps out but didn’t approach her. She nodded to the cake.

“I found out my favorite bakery delivers. And they didn’t even judge me for ordering a couple blocks away. The woman even asked what the occasion was and I said my birthday and she wished me happy birthday.” She paused. “She was the only one.”

“Maya…” He took another step toward her.

“It’s okay. I know everyone was busy. Riley was freaking out about a paper and then another paper and some quiz. I didn’t wanna bother her. Zay’s busy dancing with a bunch of pretty girls. I made sure to congratulate him. My mom’s Facebook status says she’s swamped with work today… And I’m sure you had a good excuse.” When he heard her sniffle, that was the breaking point for him. He rushed to her side and sat next to her on the bench.

“Maya, I swear I was going to do something for your birthday. But things kept getting in the way. There was my lab partner and a fight and my stupid Zoology test…”

“It’s okay, Huckleberry. I get it. It’s not like I’m not used to being forgotten. ...It just hurt a little cuz it reminded me of being alone on birthdays in the past, what with my mom working and my dad being gone. I would be at home with a babysitter of some sort. I would get to stay up half an hour later and watch whatever cartoon I wanted. And then I would play with my dolls in my room and I would have them sing Happy Birthday to me. Then I’d go to bed and have dreams of having a normal birthday party. One with both parents and friends party games. But there are times when a child has to wake up.” Lucas stared into her eyes, so deeply and sincerely that Maya had to look away.

“I am so sorry, Maya. Nobody should have to go through that. And I’m sorry I brought back those memories. W-What about Shawn? He seemed pretty adamant about making sure you had a memorable birthday.” She shook her head.

“He’s on the road again, somewhere up in the mountains. He texted me a week ago, saying he wasn’t gonna be reachable for a while. I don’t blame him though. He’s out there, following his dream. He doesn’t need another thing weighing him down.” Lucas stared at his shoes, then got up, sprinting into the house. Maya stared after him, a confused look on her face. He returned with a lighter and a fork. He leaned down to light each candle and then pulled her forward so she was directly in front of the cake. Then he sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday dear Maya… Happy Birthday to you…”

Her vision of the cake blurred into a mass of candlelight as her eyes filled with tears. Lucas leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“Make a wish.” Maya pursed her lips and wiped at her eyes. Then she leaned forward slightly and blew out each one. Lucas smiled into her hair and reached out to slice into the cake with the fork and held it up to her mouth. She smirked and accepted it. She then took it from his hand and fed him a bite. They didn’t speak, they just silently fed each other until a third of the cake was gone. Maya took the fork and held it in her mouth as she leaned back against him, sighing in contentment. He looked down at her and lowered his lips to her cheek.

“One,” he whispered. He leaned her head down so he could kiss the top of her head.

“Two.” He kissed her forehead. “Three.” Maya didn’t stop him. She smiled wider with each press of his lips. He continued.

“Nine.” He brought her hand up to his mouth. “Ten.” His lips brushed the side of her neck. Maya shivered but still let him continue, even giggling at times.

“Seventeen.” A kiss on the nose. “Eighteen.” A kiss on the chin.

“...Nineteen.” He hesitated for a moment before quickly brushing his lips across hers. He didn’t give her time to process it because a second later he had hidden his face in her hair again, tightening his arms around her torso. Maya blushed, snuggling into him some more.

“Huh…” She whispered. “My wish came true.”


	15. All Cozy part I

It was the first of December and Riley insisted they put up their Christmas tree that day. She was currently wearing a reindeer sweater, candy cane stockings, and a santa hat. On top of that she just had to play her Christmas playlist and would dance around as she brought out boxes of decorations. The other three friends and watched on in awe at the loveable girl. She had compromised getting a fake tree so they weren’t going to make her sacrifice anything else.

“Okay! Here they all are! I don’t care if there is a theme or method to decorating this thing. Just dig in and get to prettying this bad boy up!” They set about hanging up colored colored lights, swinging them around to the beat of the current song. When the tinsel came out, Zay and Maya got mischievous looks in their eyes. Long story short, Maya won and Lucas got the worst of it: tinsel in his hair and shoved down his shirt and pants. While this was all going down, Riley had been at work, threading popcorn on the couch.

“I thought people only did that in cartoons?” Maya questioned.

“That’s just cuz your childhood was deprived,” she said without looking up. Maya looked a little taken back. She had been used to Riley poking fun at her shitty life but seeing the ease at which she delivered it kind of hurt. Lucas saw this and stepped in.

“And yours was something out of a 1950s film: unrealistic and kind of sickening for how perfect it was.” He booped her nose to show he meant it lightheartedly and grabbed the first string of popcorn to put on the tree.

“Oh god, I hope not,” Zay piped up, hanging two round ornaments off of his ears. “If if was, your parents would not like my people. Hey, sweetness, if you ever wanna get back at your parents for something, I’m right here.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. Riley giggled in response. They had finally stopped beating around the bush and made it official. They’ve been dating for about a week now and couldn’t be happier.

“My parents love you, you know that.” Zay went back to digging through one of the boxes.

“Sure, go ahead and tell your dad we’re dating, then.” Riley’s eyes widened. Zay chuckled. “That’s what I thought. I prefer to keep my giblets, thank you.” 

Maya and Lucas, who decided to keep beating around the bush, would often brush hands when they reached for an ornament or tried putting one on the tree. They were at that point where they didn’t acknowledge it but they didn’t pull away like they were offended. After about the fifth hand brush Maya blushed and looked up into his eyes. They were shining from the glow of the Christmas lights. Lucas smiled at her, admiring the way her hair looked like gold in this light. Then Maya’s eyes widened.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” She ran into her room and returned a minute later with a small box in her hands. She opened it and removed all of the paper nestling the object. She held up a delicate looking glass snowflake ornament.

“This has always been my favorite. My grandpa was a glass blower and made it for my grandma. Just before she died, my grandma gave it to me.”

“Tell them the story!” Riley looked excited. Maya smiled and carefully placed it in the middle of the tree.

“My mother definitely got her amazing Alaska storytelling skills from her. Each year I would admire this ornament on my grandma’s tree and she would tell me the story of it. She said she got this from Santa, himself. It was a magical snowflake that ensures snow every Christmas. She said that he had no need for it because the North Pole was full of snow but he needed it to snow in other places that he delivered to because the snow was what held the magic. It’s what made the reindeer fly and what made him fit down any chimney. This made me love Christmas each year. 

“Of course, as I got older I heard the true story of how she got it. My grandpa had made it to propose to her with. He made some sappy speech about how she was more unique than a snowflake. They got engaged on Christmas and married on Christmas the next year. That story was just as magical as the first one, in my opinion. That’s why this is my favorite holiday…” She paused. “She knew she was sick so she made sure to give it to me, personally, before she passed away. She placed it in my hand and held it there with both of her frail ones. She told me, ‘MayMay...don’t ever lose the magic in your life. And it doesn’t hurt to find someone who thinks of you as more unique than a snowflake.’” She pursed her lips and continued with a little sniffle.

“When it didn’t snow that Christmas… I knew it wasn’t the ornament that held the magic, it was her. For a while there I thought it would be impossible not to lose the magic in my life with her gone. But I got through it. You know how?” She pointed around the room. “You guys. All of my friends helped me through some dark times. And you know what? It snowed the next year. And the next and the next…” She walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back, revealing the glittering, snow-covered buildings and treetops. “And even now. You guys replaced her magic.” She nudged the snowflake, watching it catch the light and smiled. “But she’s still here as well.” She straightened up and turned to face her friends, not meaning to get so sentimental. Riley had tears in her eyes but as she turned to Zay she saw that he was outright crying.

“Oh my god, that’s the sweetest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” He stood up from the arm of the couch and wrapped her in a crushing hug. Maya couldn’t help but laugh. Riley hugged a pillow to her chest.

“Well now all you need is someone who thinks you’re more unique than a snowflake.” Lucas looked at the ornament and then at Maya. He stared at her so intensely that Maya could feel someone looking at her. She turned to him. He looked like he was about to speak.

“You are!” Zay wailed. “You precious little snowflake! Don’t ever change!” Maya rubbed at his back, trying not to laugh out loud.

“Okay Zay. Just for you, I won’t change.” He pulled back and wiped at his eyes. He nodded and patted her cheek.

“Sweet child.” He went over to sit by Riley and put his head on her shoulder. Maya grimaced.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring everyone down.” Lucas shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. That was beautiful actually. I’m sure your grandma would be so proud of how strong you’ve become.” Maya blushed a little and tried to distract herself by reaching in the box for the star, tree-topper.

“You mind?” She asked the room as a whole since putting the star on was usually a special job. They all made some sort of gesture, saying she should go ahead. She reached up, knowing it was fruitless. Who the hell decided to buy such a big tree? On her tiptoes, she nearly knocked over the tree. All of a sudden she felt herself being lifted into the air. Lucas set her on his shoulders and smirked at her when she looked down at him, questioningly. She just shook her head and placed the star on the tree, adjusting it a few times to make sure it looked perfect.

Lucas deposited her on the couch, next to Riley, on her left, and sat next to Maya. They admired their handiwork. Riley handed out mugs of hot chocolate that she prepared while they were working. They all kicked up their feet onto the coffee table and Maya hummed along to whatever song was playing next. Lucas sighed and leaned his head on hers.

“I almost don’t want to leave tomorrow. I haven’t seen my family in a while but this right here is perfect.”

“That’s what you get for finishing all of your classes early and telling your family about it so they demand you go home early as well, Huckleberry.” Maya nudged him with her elbow lightly.

“You’re just jealous that you have another week of classes. That’s what you get for taking such strict art history classes.”

“Hey those art classes have helped me greatly. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have made you all such great presents that you’re gonna love and use everyday, right guys.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Riley shook her head.

“Unless you make me some shitty clay pot or something.” Riley nudged Zay in the stomach. “I mean, I’ll love it. I’ve just got so many pens and nowhere to put them. Thank you so much, Maya.” Maya rolled her eyes.

“It’s not a clay pot. Calm down.”

“I thought you already gave me my present,” Lucas questioned.

“Well, yeah, but I wanted to get you something to open on Christmas as well. It’s kind of a let down if you have one less present than everyone else ON the holiday.”  
“Maya, you didn’t have to do that-”  
“Shut up and and don’t question free gifts.”

They all sat there, snuggled under blankets, talking softly and enjoying each other’s company up until the music stopped. Then Lucas stood up and stretched.

“Well, I better get to bed. I have to be up early in the morning.”

“Uh, Lucas, I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Riley said, looking out the window.

“What do you mean?” He walked over and dropped his jaw in shock. The snow had really come down in the last few hours. Looking down below, he could see that the snow had almost completely covered the doors on the first floor.

“Oh shit.”

“Blame Maya and her magic snowflake,” Zay piped up.


	16. All Cozy part II

“Blame Maya and her magic snowflake,” Zay piped up.

“What?” Maya looked offended. “Don’t blame the snowflake!”  
“Well, then it’s your fault. You didn’t want Lucas to leave so badly that the snowflake fulfilled your wish. Congratulations.” Maya’s eyes widened but Lucas saved her from any further embarrassment.

“Shut up, Zay. We just didn’t check the damned radar and now I’m stuck here.”

“Sound a little more devastated, Huck,” Maya said, sounding more than a little offended.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just have a plane to catch in…” He checked his watch. “Less than eight hours. And it’s still coming down out there!” Riley looked up from her phone.

“I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“Why?”

“Cuz all planes in the nearby area are delayed at least twelve hours due to weather conditions.” She held up her phone to prove it. Lucas groaned and slumped down into the armchair, holding his face in his hands.

“Well,” he stood up, “Time to go make a fun phone call.” He walked toward his room, leaving Maya to sit alone on her side of the couch, staring at Zay Riley with a disgusted look on her face. They were currently snuggled up in a blanket together, nuzzling each other’s faces.

“Ya know, if you get enough friction, you’ll start a fire so you won’t need the blanket.” They broke apart and Riley giggled.

“Okay, Maya McScrooge. But you’re just saying that cuz you don’t have someone to snuggle with.”

“Okay… Honey?” She smiled sweetly. “Not really in the mood for you to be shittin’ on my already shitty life, thanks.” Riley untangled herself from the blanket and put an arm around her best friend.

“That came out wrong. I was trying to say that you’re just being too stubborn. You could very easily be snuggling with an abominable snow-hunk right now. Just put on your big girl panties and stop waiting around for Santa to bring him to you. He’s here, Maya. The thing that needs to come is his senses. And he’s a boy so we know that’s never gonna happen.”  
“Hey!” Riley turned to her pouting boyfriend.

“Sorry, but you know it’s true.” She patted his cheek and turned back. “So it’s up to you. There’s no chance that he’s going to be uninterested so what’s the hold up? What are you scared of?” Maya looked at them both.

“Okay, nosies. I know you’re both on ‘Team Lucas and Maya’ but Lucas and Maya gotta do this alone, kay?” They both looked sad so Maya sighed. “That’s not to say that you guys haven’t been right all along. And I can definitely say that we wouldn’t be even this far if it weren’t for you. So this is the one and only time I’m going to show any and all encouragement for you snooping into my personal matters… Thank you. I’ve got it from here.” The two smiled at her. They turned to look at each other then simultaneously pulled her into a hug. Maya whispered, “To answer your question: I’m scared of losing what we have. I hate how cliche that sounds, it makes me sick. But if we were ever to become, you know, a thing, I fear the fun will be over. The world will force us to be lovey dovey and what makes us  _ us  _ will be lost and… he’ll lose interest. He’ll realize the only thing he actually liked about me was the feistiness and it’ll all be over. Years of fun and friendship, gone in a moment of weakness.” Riley looked at her like she was crazy. She opened her mouth to speak but Zay beat her to it.

“That is the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.” Maya looked shocked and was about to retort but, yet again, he spoke.

“Girl, that man cares about you in ways that not even he understands. You think he only likes you because it’s fun to banter with you? That’s crazy. He could probably write a book, like Harry Potter-thick, full of all the things he likes about you. It’s almost offensive that you think he thinks that little of you. Give him a little more credit than that. Plus the world can go suck it if it thinks you guys will be driven to the low form of a cutesy couple. Sure, you’ll be adorable as fuck, that’s a given. But you’ll still bicker about which superhero is the best-”

“Spiderman,” she mumbled. “I don’t have a clue why he likes Superman so much.”

“You’ll still scream at one another when one of you uses up all the hot water or when the other eats the last cookie. You won’t agree on everything, you’re still so different.” Maya looked down into her lap, thinking that maybe they were too different.

“But it works out so well. You bring each other down off your high horses but also raise each other up. Sometimes literally.” He nodded to the star on the tree. “The only difference will be that you’re finally happy. There will be less stress from hiding something so intense for so long. Let yourself be happy, Maya.” She looked at him with a serious, pondering expression. Riley smiled and patted his cheek.

“I’m rubbing off on him.” That made Maya smirk.

“It doesn’t matter how I feel about relationships, I’m never gonna wanna hear about you two rubbing on each other.” Riley shoved her shoulder lightly.

“Anyway, this is the world telling you to go for it. Lucas and his family tried to tear you apart for an extended period of time and the world is having none of that. You can spend some time with him, get all cozy like we were before. Only this time we’ll stay out of the way.”

“What do you mean-”

“So!” Lucas came back into the room and they all turned to him. “They weren’t happy but they understood. But as soon as the snow lets up and the airports are cooperating with me I’ll be out of here. Till then,” he sat between Riley and Maya, “I’ll spend some time with you guys.” Riley’s eyes lit up and she concealed a grin.

“You mean with Maya.” Maya’s eyes widened and she contemplated her best friend’s murder in a matter of two seconds.

“Huh?” Lucas looked confused.

“Seeing as how Zay and I were just saying we’re getting tired and are gonna head to bed. But I know Maya, here, is a complete night owl. Spend time with her.” She stood up and dragged Zay along with her.

“Uh, Riley? Why are you going to our room?”

“Cuz it’s cold and I need a cuddle partner,” she called back, “And Maya’s smaller than me so she’ll definitely need one tonight. Just a thought.” At that, they closed the door behind them. Lucas turned to the girl to his left. He had to lean back a little from the close proximity they had all been in on the couch. Maya was glaring at the door her cowardly friend had disappeared behind.

“What was that about?”

“Riley being Riley.”

“Oh...okay.” They both turned to face forward and fidgeted awkwardly. After a minute or so, Maya stood up abruptly.

“Why does this have to be awkward?”

“Huh, what?” Lucas was taken aback.

“Here’s a hint: it doesn’t. We are just two people who have known each other for years. We’ve seen each other’s high points and low points. We’ve seen each other cry, we’ve seen each other in different states of undress, for God’s sake! So this,” she gestured to the both of them, “doesn’t have to be awkward.” Lucas blinked up at her.

“Uh, yeah, I completely agree.” Maya nodded with a satisfied smile and sat back down. After about another minute of silence she cracked.

“That’s it.” She walked over to the kitchen, pulled out her step stool, and reached into the back of one of the cabinets.

“What are you doing?” he asked, getting up as well, “Please don’t hurt yourself again.”

“Sit back down, Luke Frost,” she said without pulling her head out of the cabinet, yet pointed a stern finger at him. He did as he was told. He could hear multiple doors being opened and closed, When she came back in he saw that she was carrying two glasses, a carton of eggnog, and a bottle of rum.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Maya sat on the ground on the opposite side of the coffee table.

“My mom’s actually pretty cool.” He looked at her, incredulously.

“Pardon?” Maya laughed.

“She asked what I wanted for my birthday and I said alcohol as a joke. She must’ve felt bad for forgetting to tell me Happy Birthday so she just asked what kind and I’ve had this ever since. I’ve been saving it for I don’t know what. But tonight is as good a ‘what’ as any.” When she was done mixing the drinks she sprinkled cinnamon on top of both and put a peppermint stick in each glass. He gave her a weird look.

“What? If I’m gonna use this I might as well get into the sickeningly sweet holiday spirit.” She handed him a glass. “Cheers.” They clinked glasses and drank.

“Mm, nice touch.” Maya smirked.

“You’re not the only kitchen connoisseur in this household, you know.”

They talked for a little while and everytime there was a lag in the conversation Maya would take a long drink. So it didn’t come as a shock when she was filling her glass a short while later. After she took the first sip of her second drink she leaned back on her hands and cocked her head, looking up at the boy in front of her.

“So what’s Christmas like in Texas? Or more specifically, what’s it like at Pappy Joe’s? Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“You actually care or you want new material to make fun of me with?” Maya placed a hand on her chest.

“Lucas Sugarplum Friar, I’m appalled. I was actually just curious. Seriously though, what would you be doing tomorrow if you weren’t trapped on the Island of Misfit Toys?” She looked at him over the rim of her glass with a somewhat sensual look in her eyes. Lucas swallowed visibly.

“Okay, for starters, don’t make it sound like I’m imprisoned. I like being here with you… guys,” he quickly covered up his mistake. “But if I were to be in Texas I would go out with all the men in my family and search for the perfect tree. It was always something I looked forward to do in the future. See, it’s tradition for all the men to go as soon as they were sixteen or older. And every year the youngest of the group got to chop it down. I haven’t got to do it yet. This would’ve been my first Christmas in Texas since I turned sixteen and I finally would have gotten the chance to chop one down.”

“I’m sorry, Lucas.” Maya felt kind of ashamed for being happy that he was staying. Now she felt like an asshole. Lucas smiled.

“Hey, it’s not something serious enough for you to call me that, now come on,” he joked. “It would have been nice but there’s always next year. Anyway, after they bring the tree back they set it up and all of the kids get to decorate it. It never looked neat and tidy and everything clashed, but it was perfect. I was never one for the orderly and expected. Unexpected and wild is perfect to me. I love a little chaos.” He looked up at her and she blushed so she downed the rest of her drink.

“C-Come on, Old Saint Luke, don’t make me look like I have some sort of problem. I’m done with my second glass and your first is still half full. Down that puppy.” Lucas rolled his eyes and drank the rest, handing her his glass. “Good boy.” She set about making the drinks as he continued.

“Every day of the month, leading up to Christmas, we would do some sort of holiday activity. Whether it be baking cookies or caroling or hosting Christmas parties. And everyone participated, no if’s, and’s, or but’s. It’s just what we did, it seemed so natural. That’s why I’m glad Riley is so into the holiday spirit. It almost feels like I’m home.”

“Almost,” Maya whispered.

“Yeah, well it’s not exactly the same. But I’m totally okay with that. Instead of having to wrassle up all of my younger cousins I just have to deal with a Riley with a sugar high. Instead of wearing Christmas sweaters in 80 degree weather I get to see this beautiful snow. And instead of being kept up all night due to Pappy Joe being drunk and singing at the top of his lungs I get to stay up with you.” As Maya stared on in shock he clinked their glasses again, lightly this time.

“But it’s not all different. I’m around people I care about and the mood is very festive.” He looked her up and down. “You even kind of remind me of the angel we put on the tree every year.” Maya coughed a little and set down her drink.

“Excuse me?” Lucas blushed slightly.

“I-It’s just that it had long, curly blonde hair rosy cheeks, kind of like how you look when you laugh a lot, and I guess sometimes your skin kinda does look like porcelain…” His eyes widened as stared at his glass. “Oh wow, maybe I’ve had enough.” Maya smiled and got up to sit next to him.

“Oh no, if you’re gonna start complimenting me please keep it up.” She guided his hand up so he could drink again as she laughed. “Now, what was that about my porcelain skin?” Lucas rolled his eyes a little.

“Shut up. You’re pretty, I’m not denying that. Just don’t let that go to your head.”

“No, I do believe you called me an angel.”

“Oh, would you look at that.” He picked up his glass and downed the rest of his glass. It was safe to say they were both fairly tipsy by this point. This should be fun.


	17. All Cozy part III (Things Maya Learned)

By this point the alcohol was gone and they’re faces were flushed, causing them to shuck their sweaters. They didn’t want to turn down the heat and have their friends freeze. Maya was laying on the floor, feet on the coffee table, in just her santa skirt, white tights, and tank top. 

“You know Dasher and Dancer and… something about a comet or meteor.” Lucas chuckled.

“You forgot Prancer and Vixen.”

“And exactly why do they all have potential drag queen names?”

“Because you have a dirty mind.” Maya lifted up her head and looked at him. Lucas was slouching on the couch. He was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, and surprisingly, suspenders. Then, of course, a santa hat. Maya smirked as she sat up completely.

“Oh and don’t you forget it, Mr. Claus.” He looked down at his outfit and smiled.

“Don’t even,  _ Mrs. Claus _ .”

“Huh, yeah I guess we do both look like them.” She stood up, brushing off her bright red skirt, looking over to see Lucas watching her hands, biting his lip. This, of course, caused a devilish smirk to appear on Maya’s face. Of course, she would definitely blame any and all actions on the alcohol.

“I guess that makes you my husband, Santa baby.” He gave her a weird look as she walked over to the iPod dock and changed the song. The first notes of the familiar Christmas song played as she slowly walked toward him. She picked up a scarf from the floor as she started to sing.

“Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree for me. I’ve been an awful good girl. Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight.” She climbed up and straddled his lap. She placed the scarf around his neck, pulling him in. “Think of all the fun I’ve missed.” She leaned in really close, breathing on his lips. “Think of all the fellas that I haven’t kissed.” Lucas’ eyes were wide as he held his breath. “Next year I could be oh so good, if you check off my Christmas list.” Lucas was starting to get scared at how fast his body was reacting to her words and the closeness of their bodies. As soon as he felt his pants start to tighten he lept up, sending Maya toppling to the ground. But not before her head came into contact with the coffee table. Lucas was immediately at her side.

“Oh my god, Maya! Are you okay?” He helped her up as she rubbed at the back of her head.

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” she mumbled. “This doesn’t hurt more than my pride at the moment, I’ll tell you that.” She hid her face and went to turn off the music. Lucas shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m so sorry, Maya. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Yeah, you just tried to get away from me as fast as possible. I get it.”

“No, no, it was a good song. It was great… Kinda too great.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing!” He placed his hands in front of his crotch, nonchalantly.” Maya sighed.

“I guess alcohol was a bad idea. I get pretty frisky when I’m drunk. I need to start learning that people don’t want me.” She sat down on the couch. 

Lucas looked at her sadly and went to sit next to her.

“Don’t be crazy. A lot of people want you, trust me. I hear people all over campus talking about you. It’s enough to make a guy kind of… scared.” She looked up at him.

“What do you mean?” He looked at her as well.

“With the amount of possible suitors out there, willing to take you out the minute you say the word, I get nervous that you’ll realize that you seriously could have whoever you want. And that the person you want will be the wrong choice.” He looked down in his lap but she grabbed his chin, tilting his face back up to look at her.

“How so?” Lucas searched her eyes.

“I don’t want your low self-esteem to guide you,” he stated seriously. “I don’t want you to pick the first guy that made you feel good. I’m not saying you would just give yourself away, I’m just… scared. That’s the only word I can think of to describe this. I don’t want to have to kick some dude’s ass in the near future because he hurt you. I never want you to hurt and honestly, I’d probably kill him. I would constantly be worried that whoever you were dating was secretly some sleazeball that was trying to take advantage of you. And even if they weren’t, I’d still know they weren’t treating you good enough. Because you deserve the world and then some and I know whoever you choose won’t understand that. They won’t know how special you are. They won’t know passionate you are about art or just how beautifully you can sing when you don’t think anyone’s listening. They won’t know how nerdy you are because of the fact that you like to hide it. They won’t know to distract you during thunderstorms or any time there’s a needle in your presence. They won’t know little random, seemingly useless things like the fact that you drink your coffee black to look tough but secretly add sugar when no one’s looking or that your telltale sign of being nervous is chewing on your hair.” He lifted a hand and gently pulled the hair from her mouth and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Don’t be nervous, Maya,” he whispered. He took a deep breath.

“They also won’t know how deep your insecurities run even though they shouldn’t because you have nothing to be insecure about. You’re perfect.”

Maya’s lip quivered a bit and she had tears in her eyes. 

“Now why don’t you tell me what you’re really trying to say.” Her voice was barely above a whisper but her words had his ears ringing. Lucas took a deep breath and cupped her face.

“...I’m scared because I think everybody would be the wrong choice. I’m scared that you won’t choose me.” Maya let out a quiet sob as the tears started to flow. She leaned in slowly and Lucas followed suit. Just as their lips were about to touch he placed one hand on the back of her head and she jolted backward.

“Ow!” Lucas looked completely worried.

“What is it? What did I do?” Maya held the spot on her head gently.

“Nothing, nothing, it’s just where I hit my head.” Lucas let out a little sigh.

“C’mere.” He stood up and held out his hand. She took it and he led her into the kitchen. There, he sat her down in one of the chairs and set about getting some ice put in a rag. Maya watched him, seeing that he didn’t look happy. She could tell that he was mentally kicking himself for putting his heart out there and ruining the moment so she decided to make a joke out of it.

“Ya know, we really know how to fuck up a moment.” Lucas stilled but didn’t face her so she continued. “I try to seduce you and you throw me off the couch. You get all sentimental and I scream out in pain. We really are two of a kind.” She could see the tips of Lucas’ ears turn red, but he chuckled all the same. She smiled and then something caught her eye which made her smile widen.

She stood up and made her way over to Lucas. She tapped his shoulder and when he turned around he looked confused at her close proximity. Maya just simply pointed upwards. Lucas looked toward the ceiling and saw that someone (obviously Riley) had hung some makeshift mistletoe. He looked a little surprised, then a small smile broke out on his face before he hid it and tried to place the ice on her wound. Maya, being impatient as all get out, took the bundle from his hand and threw it behind her, sending ice cubes flying in all directions.

“This is so fucking long overdue, don’tcha think?” Before he could respond, Maya grabbed both sides of his face and forcefully pressed her lips to his. After a moment’s hesitation, Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed back. He didn’t know what to expect, he had been building this moment up in his mind for so long yet everything went blank as it was actually happening. He could only feel the sensations of her around him. She still faintly tasted of eggnog. He could smell her peppermint body spray. Her lips felt warm and slightly chapped and her fingers played with the hair at the side of his face. It was such a gentle touch he almost had to open his eyes to make sure this was his Maya. But just then she tilted her head to deepen the kiss and he could feel the cliched jolt of electricity that everyone talked about surge through his body.

Lucas turned them slightly and grabbed her hips, placing her on the counter. She squealed out a giggle but never left his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling back just enough to place her forehead to his.

“How was that? Was I okay?” Lucas looked a little dazed but laughed a little.

“Okay? You’re fucking perfect. And I think I found my new favorite holiday.” He made a move to kiss her again but she leaned back, smirking.

“I don’t know. What kind of holiday is based off a creep breaking into houses, songs that threaten you, saying you can’t be anything less than cheerful cuz said creep sees you at all times, and forcing people to make out under plants? I don’t see the appeal.” She tried to keep a straight face but she couldn’t help but smile. Lucas smiled widely then picked her up off the counter causing her to shriek again and wrap her legs around him as he carried her back to the living room. He deposited her on the couch then leaned over her and kissed her again, this time short and sweet. Maya stared up at him and then furrowed her brows.

“What?” Again, she just pointed upward. Lucas turned his head and saw that there was makeshift mistletoe hanging everywhere: There were four in the living room in each corner, at least two in the kitchen, one hanging over the front door, and one over the entrance to the hallway. Lucas looked back to Maya.

“How did we miss those?” Maya giggled in response.

“That’s Riley for ya. I have no idea when she put those up but when she did she was on a mission.”  
“Damn, I’ll have to make sure to get her more Christmas presents as a thank you.” Maya smiled up at him, sweetly, brushing some hair off of his forehead, just staring up at him, admiringly.

“Huh. We’re both incredibly stubborn to the point that not even our meddling friends could do much. We’ve been tip toeing around each other for so long and now, out of the blue, this.” She motioned between the two of them. “I’m just gonna say it: Christmas is, indeed, fucking magical. It’s the snowflake.” Lucas smiled down at her and looked over at the ornament, then looked back at her. He got up and walked over to the tree. He leaned down and kissed the snowflake lightly.

“Thank you,” he whispered before walking back to her. Maya let out a breath, the tears springing back to her eyes. She leaned up and kissed him hard again. When they let go, slightly out of breath, Maya said, “You know, if we’re snowed in for long we just might have to repopulate the earth.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Lucas’ eyes widened a bit and Maya laughed.

“Don’t worry, cowboy. I’m pushing things  _ that  _ fast.” And with that, she pushed him to the ground and rolled on top of him, giggling like a child. She was finally happy with everything going on in her life and Lucas could do nothing but contribute as much happiness as he could.


	18. Update

Hey guys! I now have the sequel to this story. It's called 'The Little Things About Lucas.' Hope you like it!


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